Feb 28, 2002

Box Score

By MIKE BRANOM
Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. - Joey Graham scored 20 points and Ray Abellard added 15 as No. 5 seed Central Florida beat Samford 84-71 in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament's opening round Thursday night.

The host Golden Knights (17-11) will meet No. 1 seed Georgia State in the semifinals on Friday night.

Central Florida's gambling halfcourt defense forced the fourth-seeded Bulldogs into committing 19 turnovers, The Knights also had 11 steals, which Abellard had three.

Samford (15-14) got 15 points each from Phillip Ramelli and Eddie Harper.

The Bulldogs entered the game as the Atlantic Sun's best defensive unit, with their opponents averaging just 59.4 points. However, they surrendered their most points this season as the conference's top-scoring team outran them.

Samford's previous worst defensive night came in the second game of the season, an 85-51 whipping by Alabama.

The Knights put the game away coming out of intermission, outscoring Samford 14-5 in less than three minutes. Abellard had two 3-pointers in the outburst, with the last creating a 51-33 with 17:06 remaining.

From there, Samford were only able to cut the lead to 72-62 with 4:39 to go. The Knights closed the game by making eight straight free throws.

Central Florida pulled away from a deadlock midway through the first half as its pressing defense sparked a series of fast breaks. Outscoring the Bulldogs 12-2 in a four-minute span, the Knights went up 35-23 with 2:03 left before halftime.

The Knights forced 11 first-half turnovers to seriously crimp Samford's offense. The Bulldogs shot 55 percent in the opening half - but took only 22 shots.

For the game, Samford shot 57 percent (28-for-49).