– National Basketball Association – Chicago 102, Magic 99

Jameer Nelson was just a second late on his release from beyond the arc as time expired Sunday at the Amway Center. The Bulls (60-20) wrapped up the top seed in the East with the win. The Magic (50-30) was playing without Dwight Howard, who was out due to suspension following a technical foul earlier in the week. Ryan Anderson scored a career-high 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in Howard’s place.

– College Baseball – UCF 8, Tulane 7

The Knights trailed 7-0 at one point but avoided the sweep after getting four runs in the ninth inning. D.J. Hicks ended the game with a two-run single off the wall in right field to help UCF improve to 21-11 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. UCF lost 10-8 on Friday and 6-5 on Saturday.

– College Softball – East Carolina 1, UCF 0

After winning both games on Saturday at ECU (3-2; 1-0) the Knights could not finish the sweep on Sunday. The lone run of the game came unearned in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fielder’s choice error. UCF drops to 15-23 overall and 5-7 in Conference USA.

= SATURDAY, April 9, 2011 =

– Women’s College Tennis – UCF 4, Stetson 3

The victory over Stetson (16-5) gives the Knights its 10th win in a season for the 20 straight years. After dropping two of the three doubles matches, UCF came up with big wins at the top three singles spots and at No. 6 to close out the day.

= FRIDAY, April 8, 2011 =

– College Baseball – (#8) Tampa 8, Rollins 7

The Tars dropped to 2-8 in the Sunshine State Conference despite multiple hits from Tony Brunetti, Kevin Mager and Winter Park High School alum Nick Adams. Tampa took a 6-4 advantage by posting runs in the fifth and sixth innings before going on to lead 8-5 following a pair of runs in the eighth. The Tars went on to drop the following two games 16-4 and 10-3 in the series.

= THURSDAY, April 7, 2011 =

– Women’s College Tennis – UCF 6, North Florida 1

UCF improved to 9-7 with the win over UNF (12-5). The Knights will host the C-USA Women’s Tennis Championship April 21-24 at the Lake Cane Tennis Center in Orlando. Admission is free for all fans.

= WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2011 =

– National Basketball Association – Magic 111, Charlotte 102 (OT)

Dwight Howard was called for his 18th technical of the season, Quentin Richardson was tossed from the game and Gilbert Arenas had his best outing as a member of the Orlando Magic as the Bobcats were eliminated from playoff contention. Despite five turnovers, Arenas led the Magic with 25 points.

– Men’s College Tennis – (#9) Rollins 9, (#25) Florida Southern 0

Rollins improved to 13-7 on the year as No. 12 Jeff Morris defeated Ivan Marevic 7-6 (10-2), 6-2 and No. 37 Arturo Baravalle put away Benoit Paradis 6-2, 6-4 in the top singles matches. Morris and Baravalle also teamed up for an 8-3 win in doubles, where they are ranked No. 14 as a pair.

– College Baseball – Rollins 2, Florida Tech 1

Kevin Mager hit a two-run homer in the first inning before the Tars (20-14) went on to hold off the Panthers (20-13) the rest of the way on Wednesday. Steven Gropler earned the win in his first start of the year.

= TUESDAY, April 5, 2011 =

– National Basketball Association – Magic 78, Milwaukee 72

Despite a tough night from the field and 21 turnovers, the Orlando Magic clinched the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference with the win. The Magic missed 19 straight 3-point shots after making its first two. Dwight Howard finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds. The Bucks went on an 18-2 run to tie the game at 72-all with 2:02 left.

= MONDAY, April 4, 2011 =

– Women’s College Lacrosse – (#9) Rollins 22, Millersville 6

Freshman Caroline Lamere, out of Lake Brantley High School, and Marissa Giannerini each led the Tars by scoring five goals and finishing with an assist in the win. Rollins improves to 9-3 on the season.

– Men’s College Tennis – UCF 7, Bethune-Cookman 0

The Knights (9-11) routed BCU in its final home contest of the season, which also served as the final appearance at the UCF Tennis Complex for Blaze Schwartz. The senior earned his ninth win at No. 3 singles against Santiago Lobelo 6-0, 6-3 and joined Joe Delinks for an 8-1 win over Jeffrey Smallwood and Marc Misanovic in No. 1 doubles.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Sophomore shortstop Darnell Sweeney made up for an error that allowed No. 4 Florida to break a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning on Tuesday by lining a two-out, two-run double to center in the ninth to give UCF a 4-3 win in Gainesville.

“It was such a big win for us because we were able to bounce back (after the Southern Miss series). Every time we lose we find a way to come back in the next game and play really hard,” said Sweeney. “You have to get that big hit and that’s what we did today, we got the big hit and came out with a win.”

The victory was the fourth for UCF (20-9) over a top-five team since 2008. The Knights are now 5-5 against ranked teams this season and No. 32 in the first official RPI report released by the NCAA. Florida ranked No. 1 while six of the nine teams in Conference USA debuted in the top 50.

Sweeney went 2-for-5 with two RBIs in the win. His double to dead-center in the ninth for UCF was followed by the game’s final three outs of the game by centerfielder Ronnie Richardson, who stepped to the mound and retired the second, third and fourth hitters in the Florida (24-6) lineup.

“Coach (Terry) Rooney told me that if we went ahead I would have the ninth,” said Richardson, who struck out two. “When Darnell had that big hit I got the call. So I just went out there and tried to smother them, pound the strike zone and make them hit my pitch.”

Ryan Breen and Erik Hempe hit solo home runs to tie the game at 2-all. Breen went 2-for-4 with two runs while Beau Taylor finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Each team recorded seven hits on the day.

UCF used six relievers over the final seven innings, allowing six hits and one walk while striking out four over that span.

Making his second-career start after earning a win over No. 20 Stetson last week, UCF righty Chase Bradford had nobody on, two outs and two strikes in the first inning but ended up hitting a batter and issuing two walks to load the bases. Florida took advantage when designated hitter Austin Maddox lined a two-run single to center.

UCF gets back into C-USA play this weekend when it hosts Tulane beginning Friday at 6:30 p.m.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 9 Rollins 14, Edinboro 7

Two Tars tallied hat tricks to help Rollins improve to 8-3 on the season. Marissa Giannerini and Sophie Townsend each scored three goals while Erica Pagliarulo finished with two goals and an assist.

– College Softball – No. 12 Tampa 3, No. 7 Rollins 1

Rollins dropped the final game in the series to Tampa, giving the Tars its first loss of the season in Sunshine State Conference competition. Rollins saw its 32-game winning streak end as they dropped to 34-2 overall and 11-1 in the SSC. Jessica Moreland finished 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hope Bitzer pitched five innings and struck out seven batters in relief.

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 5, No. 23 UCF 2

Following a 13-2 loss on Saturday, UCF got swept by Southern Miss after falling 5-2 in the third and final game of the series. UCF trailed 3-1 in the fourth inning but was unable to tie the game when Erik Hempe had his line drive towards left field turned into a double play by the Golden Eagles.

= SATURDAY, April 2, 2011 =

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

Two UCF school records fell at the Florida Relays in Gainesville as Dominique Booker, Aurieyall Scott, Lynne Layne and Sheila Paul set new standards. The 4×100-meter relay time of 43.75, set just the week before, was replaced by a 43.53 effort. The 4×200-meter relay mark of 1:32.81 from three years ago was replaced by a time of 1:26.34.

– College Baseball – Rollins 15, Lynn 7

The Tars dropped the first game of the doubleheader 12-3 before returning to the field and snapping a five-game losing streak. Rollins jumped out to a 9-3 lead after scoring runs in the second, third and fourth innings. Brian Lattanzi went 3-for-5 and John Avanzino finished 2-for-4 with 5 RBI. Matt White got the win with four strikeouts over 5.2 innings to help the Tars improve to 19-14 overall and 2-7 in the Sunshine State Conference.

– Arena Football League – Arizona 48, Predators 47

Nick Hill was intercepted in the final minute of the game before the Arizona Rattlers went on to score a touchdown and two-point conversion with eight seconds left to shock the Orlando Predators. Arizona outscored the Preds 22-6 in the final quarter after Orlando jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter of play. Hill threw five touchdowns but was intercepted twice while Bobby Sippio led the Preds with 12 receptions for 149 yards and a score.

– Florida Football Alliance – Rage 37, Duval 6

Former UCF and University High School quarterback Kyle Israel threw touchdown passes to Preston McGann and Jeremiah Chatman as the Orlando Rage closed out the regular season with a 10-0 mark. With the win over the Duval Panthers, the Rage wrapped up consecutive unbeaten seasons and improved to 31-1 over the past three years. Postseason play begins this weekend. The Rage will host the winner between the Jacksonville Knights and Daytona Beach Wildcats on April 16.

– United Soccer Leagues – Richmond 2, Lions 0

Richmond scored on a penalty kick near the end of the first half and tacked on another goal in the 84th minute to turn away Orlando City in its first-ever USL Pro game.

– Women’s College Tennis – No. 4 Barry 8, No. 9 Rollins 1

Rollins senior Margaret Junker, ranked No. 17 in the nation, won the lone match for the Tars as she defeated No. 33 Angie Werschel 7-5, 3-6, 10-5.

= FRIDAY, April 1, 2011 =

– College Baseball – No. 20 Southern Miss 6, No. 23 UCF 5

UCF manager Terry Rooney and pitcher Ben Lively were tossed from the game, but the Knights nearly pulled the upset after being tied at 3-all in the ninth. UCF fell to 19-7 overall and 2-2 in Conference USA. The Knights committed a season-high five errors and are now 4-3 against ranked teams.

– Men’s College Tennis – No. 9 Rollins 6, No. 26 Saint Leo 3

The Tars improved to 12-7 overall and 3-2 in the Sunshine State Conference as No. 5 Jeff Morris overcame a loss in the first set to put away Matt Nicholson-Lewis 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Morris and Arturo Baravalle were upended in doubles play by the No. 23 pairing of Nicholson-Lewis and Victor Lozier 8-5.

– Women’s College Lacrosse – No. 2 Lock Haven 12, No. 9 Rollins 7

Tied at 5-all at the halftime break, Rollins (7-3) could not keep up with unbeaten Lock Haven (9-0) while on the road. Tori Snow and Marissa Giannerini each scored two goals in the loss for Rollins.

– Women’s College Track & Field – Florida Relays

UCF freshman Aurieyall Scott set a new school record in the 200 meter with a time of 22.98 at the Florida Relays in Gainesville. Classmate Dominique Booker previously held the mark at 23.70, set last week at the UCF Invitational.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

During Tuesday’s 8-2 win over No. 20 Stetson at Jay Bergman Field, Darnell Sweeney and Erik Hempe each drove in two runs while Chase Bradford struck out four in six innings in his first career start for the Knights.

The game was played in front of 1,430 fans and served as merely another obstacle along the road to returning to the postseason for the first time since 2004.

“It’s been a while since UCF baseball has been in the Top 25, but the fact that it’s only No. 23 means we still got a ways to go,” Sweeney said afterwards. “We’re happy where we are but we’re not satisfied.”

UCF (19-6) was playing in its first game as a ranked team since 2008. They’ll get right back at it on Wednesday in DeLand in a rematch with the Hatters (20-6) at 6:30 p.m. The Knights lead the all-time series against Stetson 68-48 and have won the last eight meetings dating back to 2007.

Sweeney doubled in the first and singled in the fourth, finishing 2-for-4 on the night with a run scored. He also stole a base following his first at-bat and was later caught stealing in the sixth inning.

Hempe went 3-for-3 and was walked twice while Travis Shreve (2-for-5), Jonathan Griffin (2-for-4) and Beau Taylor (2-for-4) rounded out the Knights with multiple hits.

UCF tallied 14 hits in all as a team and led 6-1 after four innings.

Nick Cicio and outfielder Ronnie Richardson closed out the final three innings on the rubber in fine fashion. Despite loading the bases at one point late in the game, Cicio struck out three and walked two in 2.1 innings of work. Richardson cleaned up from there by putting away two of the three batters he faced.

The Knights entered the game with an overall earned run average of 2.80, 200 strikeouts and a .978 fielding percentage as a team. They did not disappoint in either category.

“Compared to last year our pitching staff is a complete turnaround,” Sweeney noted. “We get guys that come out and throw up zeros, throw strikes from the beginning and get you ground balls. It’s a great feeling playing behind guys that can keep you in the game like that.”

UCF and Stetson were facing off against each other as ranked opponents for the first time since 2001. The win pushed the Knights’ record against ranked teams to 4-2 on the season.

But there’s still plenty of baseball to be played and not a lot of time to relish in the new-found attention that comes from being ranked in the Top 25.

“We’ve got to get better everyday and make sure that we show the world that we’re capable of being ranked for the rest of the season,” said Sweeney.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Brian Adkins tossed three scoreless innings of relief and Joe Rogers pitched a perfect ninth to deliver a 5-4 victory on the road against No. 23 Rice on Sunday. Combined with a 7-2 triumph on Friday, the Knights (18-6, 2-1) posted their first series win over the Owls (16-11, 1-2). Next up for UCF is a home-and-home against No. 28 Stetson beginning Tuesday in Orlando.

“That was a tremendous team effort for the entire weekend,” said head coach Terry Rooney. “We call every Sunday ‘Championship Sunday.’ Regardless of the first two days, Sunday is always the most important game of the series. For today’s game, all you have to do is look at the back-and-forth of the score, and then to see us hold on late on the road certainly speaks volumes about the confidence and presence of our team.”

It was the first time UCF won its C-USA opening series since 2006 when it took two of three against Marshall. Dating back to last year, the Knights have now claimed the series in each of their last two C-USA road trips (also defeated Tulane in New Orleans to end the 2010 campaign).

Adkins entered in the fourth inning in a bases-loaded jam with Rice leading 3-2 and proceeded to shut down the Owls. The lefty, who had only started midweek games until Sunday, moved his record to 4-1 after allowing just three hits.

“Basically I was just trying to fill up the zone, and once again the defense played great behind me,” said Adkins. “My mindset was a little bit different coming out of the pen. But in each individual inning I was trying to close out the game. Each inning was its own entity for me, so I was just trying to go hitter by hitter.”

Adkins gave way to Rogers in the seventh, who picked up his fifth save of the year, highlighted by retiring hitters two, three and four in the ninth.

“I was mentally prepared in the bullpen when I saw how well Brian pitched,” said Rogers. “It was cool how (facing potential No. 1 MLB pick Anthony Rendon in the ninth) was drawn up. I wanted to go after Rendon because he is potentially a high-draft pick, so I threw him a two-seamer and I guess it just tailed on him and he hit it to Darnell Sweeney at short. He made a great play to end it. And Beau Taylor did an excellent job behind the plate for me.”

Jonathan Griffin banged out three hits. Ronnie Richardson reached base four times with two hits and a pair of walks, and D.J. Hicks and Erik Hempe also rapped out two hits.

The Knights led 2-0 entering the bottom of the fourth inning, where Rice posted three runs against Ray Hanson. Three more runs over the course of the fifth and sixth innings put UCF up 5-3 before the Owls posted a run in the eighth.

Rice won the second game of the series 6-2 on Saturday.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

– Men’s College Lacrosse – Lenoir-Rhyne 13, Rollins 12

Despite a program record six goals in one game by junior Austin Ricci the Rollins Tars dropped to 2-8 overall and 0-6 in the Deep South Conference on Sunday. It’s the first-ever conference win for Lenoir-Rhyne, who broke an 11-all tie with under eight minutes to play to take the lead for good.

– College Softball – UAB 5, UCF 3

The Knights allowed five runs in the third inning and never recovered as they dropped to 12-22 overall and 3-6 in Conference USA. The Blazers (24-9, 8-1 C-USA) took two of three games after splitting with UCF on Saturday.

= SATURDAY, March 26, 2011

– Arena Football League – Predators 68, Blaze 53

Orlando Predators quarterback Nick Hill went 24-of-36 for 331 yards and eight touchdowns while Rayshaun Kizer intercepted three passes and ran one back for a score Saturday night. The Predators (2-0) downed the Utah Blaze (1-1) in its first game at the new Amway Center in front of 12,186 fans.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Freshman Dominique Booker set two new school records on Saturday during the second day of competition at the UCF Invitational. Booker set a new mark in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.70, good for fourth place and enough to surpass the previous mark set by Sonnisha Williams (23.79) just last week. Booker also joined Aurieyall Scott, Sheila Paul and Tyler Smith in the 4×400-meter relay, where the group took first place with a time of 43.73 (previous mark was 45.05).

– United Soccer Leagues – Lions 2, USF 0

The Orlando City Lions wrapped up its preseason schedule Saturday in Tampa, where they got goals from Yordany Alvarez (30th minute) and Jamie Watson (60th) on assists from Devorn Jorsling in the win. The Lions finished the preseason schdule 6-2 with wins over Philadelphia Union (1-0) and Toronto FC (1-0) of Major League Soccer as well as Rollins (3-1), UCF (5-1) and Stetson (5-3). Orlando City lost to FC Dallas (1-0) and BK Hacken (3-2). The reguler season begins this weekend on the road against Richmond.

– Men’s College Tennis – UCF 4, NO. 53 DePaul 3

Facing their seventh nationally-ranked opponent in a row, the Knights clinched the win over DePaul when freshman Mitch Thams won the final two sets of a 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 match against Filip Dzanko at No. 5 singles.

= FRIDAY, March 25, 2011

– College Baseball – UCF 7, No. 23 Rice 2

Despite a school-record eight walks, freshman Ben Lively improved to 5-0 on the season while D.J. Hicks went 3-for-4 at the plate and pitched a scoreless inning in UCF’s Conference USA opener at Rice (15-10, 0-1 C-USA). Lively is the first pitcher at UCF to start the season perfect in five games since Ray Rodriguez and Darren Newlin did so in 2005. Joe Rogers picked up the save. The Knights trailed 2-0 after four innings before scoring three times in the top of the fifth. UCF turned a season-high four double plays in the win and improved to 17-5 overall and 1-0 in C-USA.

– Women’s College Track & Field – UCF Invitational

Sophomore Sonnisha Williams broke her own school record in the long jump by five-and-a-half inches to take first place in the event during the opening day of the UCF Invitational. Williams went 20-11.75/6.39m at the UCF Track and Field Complex to best the previous mark of 20-6.25/6.25m set last May at the NCAA East Regional. Competition picks back up on Saturday with Florida, Miami, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Tennessee and Rhode Island taking part.

– National Basketball Association – Magic 95, Nets 85

The Magic won its fifth game in a row after pulling away from New Jersey with just over eight minutes to play in the fouth quarter. Hedo Turkoglu went 8-for-11 from the field for 20 points, 13 assists and no turnovers in the win while Dwight Howard finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals. Already playing without J.J. Redick, Orlando (47-26) lost Jameer Nelson to a knee injury in the first half.

– College Softball – Rollins 10, Lynn 0

The Tars improved to 30-1 overall and 7-0 in the Sunshine State Conference in the opening game of its series against Lynn (6-26, 1-6 SSC). Rollins scored eight runs in the second inning as Krista Rodden, Lake Mary alum Hope Bitzer, Winter Springs alum Christine Roser and Hilary Brown drove in runs. Kristen Frame, the reigning confernce player of the week, struck out six in five innings.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

On Tuesday night at Jay Bergman Field the Knights (13-4) blew a 4-2 lead in the eighth inning against rival USF (7-9) en route to a 6-5 loss in front of an announced crowd of 1,711.

Spoiled was an impressive outing on the mound for sophomore Brian Adkins, who went 6.2 innings before being pulled in favor of D.J. Hicks with the top of the USF lineup due to return to the plate.

Adkins allowed two runs on six hits and struck out four, while yielding his first walk of the season in the top of the seventh.

“He’s not a hard throwing guy so he’s got to be pretty perfect with his pitches and he’s got to really be able to mix and match,” Rooney said afterwards. “I think once he got to that third and fourth time around with those guys, I think they were really starting to get to him.”

Hicks (1-1) got hit hard from there, allowing four runs on five hits in 1.1 innings of work in the loss as he was unable to find his spot against the Bulls.

Not that he had much trouble getting comfortable at the plate.

Hicks crushed his second homer of the night over the wall in center field in the bottom of the eighth to get UCF within a run, but the Knights went down swinging the rest of the way.

His first homer of the game came in the fourth inning on a two-run shot to right field that put UCF up 3-0. Jonathan Griffin sent a blast over the left field wall earlier that same inning.

Beau Taylor also drove in a run for the Knights in the seventh inning on a single to shallow right field.

The Knights left nine runners stranded.

The loss to USF marks the third close contest UCF has dropped this season. They suffered back-to-back losses to Dartmouth (8-6 in 10 innings) and Mount St. Mary’s (2-1) in early March. UCF also dropped a 7-2 decision to Southern Louisiana on Feb. 26.

The rematch with the Bulls takes place May 3 in Tampa. UCF leads the all-time series 55-52 dating back to 1973. The Knights defeated No. 25 USF 9-5 on April 28, 2009 for its last big win on its own diamond.

UCF hosts Columbia this weekend before going on the road to face Miami on March 22. The Conference USA schedule begins with Rice in Houston, Texas March 25-27.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

The Florida Collegiate Summer League recently announced the formation of a new wood-bat baseball league to its operations beginning this summer.

The Futures Wood-bat League (FWL) will provide an opportunity for graduated high school seniors and current college players the chance to tune their skills and get a head start on their college baseball careers prior to ever walking on campus.

FWL players will consist of those who have signed National Letters of Intent and are on pace to play college baseball in the Fall of 2011. The league will provide a collegiate-level playing experience for its participants.

The FWL will consist of four teams with small rosters, ensuring adequate playing time and repetitions for all participants. Each team will play a 20-25 game season on the same quality fields that Florida Collegiate Summer League teams use. Games will be played locally in Central Florida during the months of June and July.

“With the launch of the FWL, we are pleased to provide a transitional and highly competitive opportunity for the college baseball stars of tomorrow,” FCSL Vice-President and FWL Director Stefano Foggi said. ”The league will feature some of the best players from the state of Florida, and will be the highest level of play available at this age.”

More information is available by emailing sfoggi@floridaleague.com or calling 321-206-9174.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

Sharpen your No. 2 pencils, kids. We’re going back to school…

= UCF’s Darnell Sweeney out to hot start =

Dear local baseball fans, you’ll be hearing plenty about UCF shortstop Darnell Sweeney over the next few years.

On Monday the sophomore was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week for helping the Knights go 3-1 with wins over Bethune-Cookman, South Alabama and No. 29 Alabama. UCF’s record now stands at 6-1 with the lone loss coming in a 7-2 setback to Southeastern Louisiana. But more on that game later.

In those four games last week, Sweeney went 11-for-17 at the plate (.647) with 6 RBIs, 5 doubles, 3 walks, a stolen base and a 1.759 on-base percentage. Most impressive for the switch hitter was that he never struck out and was perfect on 19 opportunities in the field.

It’s the second career C-USA weekly honor for Sweeney. He is currently batting .500 on the year, which is tops in the conference.

= Streak ends for Taylor in tie with Myers =

The impressive consecutive-game hit streak for UCF junior catcher Beau Taylor finally came to an end last week.

In a 9-4 win against South Alabama, Taylor logged a hit in his 26th-straight game dating back to last season. That tied him for the longest such stretch in program history previously set by Mike Myers in 2001.

But the streak ended in a loss on Saturday against Southeastern Louisiana. The Knights begin a 13-game home stand on Wednesday against Maine at 4 p.m.

= UCF women lock up No. 2 slot in C-USA =

Following an up-and-down start the season the UCF women’s basketball team have since turned things around in a big way.

Last week the Knights (18-10 overall, 11-4 in C-USA) secured the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Conference USA Tournament in El Paso, Texas being held March 9-12.

The Knights won the 2009 conference tournament as the No. 5 seed under head coach Joi Williams, who was named the league’s coach of the year.

UCF, winners of seven in a row, host its regular season finale and Senior Night on Thursday against Memphis at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports. Admission for all fans is free. The first 250 fans will receive a UCF women’s basketball t-shirt. The first 500 fans through the doors will receive a free poster of UCF’s five seniors.

Playing in their final home game at UCF will be Jelisa Caldwell, D’Nay Daniels, Angelica Mealing, Leah Paige and Chelsie Wiley.

= Rollins men claim No. 1 seed in SSC =

As expected, the Rollins College men’s basketball team won the Sunshine State Conference regular season title for the second year in a row with a 93-68 triumph of Lynn on Saturday.

Rollins (22-6 overall, 13-3 in SSC) entered the week ranked No. 18 in Division II. They have now won at least a share of six of the last nine regular season titles under head coach Tom Klusman. The Tars move on to defend its Sunshine State Conference Tournament title on Wednesday in the opening round as hosts against No. 8 Barry at 7 p.m.

Senior Nick Wolf leads the SSC in scoring with 20.6 points per game, is second in rebounding with 10.1 per game and seventh in assists with three per game. Wolf recently surpassed his uncle, Jeff Wolf, for third on the school’s all-time scoring list. He is well on his way to finishing out his career with more than 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

Senior Matt Robertson ranks ninth in the league with 14.8 points and eighth in rebounds with 6.2, while junior Myk Brown is No. 14 in scoring with 13 points per game.

Timber Creek High School alum Chris Malcolm ranks third in the league in blocked shots with 1.6 per game. He set the new school record for blocks in a game when he swatted away nine shots against Saint Leo last month. He broke the previous mark of eight blocks set by Frode Loftesnes against Saint Leo in 1995.

= New 3-point record set at Rollins =

The record books continued to be rewritten at Rollins College last month.

On Feb. 12 against Saint Leo, Amber Heistan broke the school record for most 3-pointers in a game when she connected on seven treys in a 73-50 win. Heistan went 7-of-8 from deep and finished with a career-high 21 points and five steals in the win.

Jessica Pressley hit six 3-pointers in a game three different times for Rollins while Jennifer Gossett and Nicole Sullivan each made six shots in a game from beyond the mark once.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –

UCF finished out 2010 under the direction of Rooney with its most wins since 2005 (33-22), and the most wins in Conference USA (10-14) since joining the league.

Siena finished 27-27 overall last season. They are led by power-hitting second baseman Dan Paolini, who was tops in the NCAA in home runs per game by going yard 26 times in 53 games.

The Knights come off of a season where they batted .343 at the plate but struggled on the mound with a 6.01 earned run average.

It seems there is room for optimism, though.

“Our pitching’s better,” Rooney said earlier in the week. “When we looked at it from a recruiting standpoint, the No. 1 thing we had to get better at was pitching.”

UCF ushers out a pair of junior college transfers to start the new season. Danny Winkler will be on the mound on Friday followed by DeLand native Matt Collins on Saturday.

Rooney believes his bullpen will also be much improved when it comes time to change arms between the sixth and eighth innings of games. Chase Bradford and Lake Brantley alum D.J. Hicks are expected to be the major contributors there.

While new faces make up the pitching rotation for the Knights, several young and familiar faces will look to build on the experience they received in their first year at the collegiate level.

Last year Olympia High School alum Chris Taladay, who is currently recovering from injury, was named C-USA Freshman of the Year while shortstop Darnell Sweeney and pitcher Joe Rogers were named to the all-freshman team.

And those are just three of the five freshmen that earned regular playing time near the end of the season.

“Those guys are a year older and obviously carrying themselves with a little bit of confidence,” Rooney said.

– What to watch for –

Former UCF players Chris Duffy and Shane Brown will be honored before tonight’s game. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday’s game begins at 4 p.m. and Sunday’s matchup starts at 1 p.m.

Junior catcher Beau Taylor carries over a 21-game hitting streak from last season, good for third on the school’s career list behind Mike Myers (26) and Brown (22).

Conference USA coaches have picked UCF to finish fourth in the league behind Rice, Southern Miss and East Carolina.

– (email JC@OrlandoSportsCentral.com and follow at Facebook or @OrlandoSportsJC ) –