Orlando, FL—Prince Okoroh scored a team-high 20 points and Solomon Mangham contributed a career-high 16, but it was not enough to offset the three-point shooting barrage in the second half as Howard fell, 79-64 to the University of Central Florida in a non-conference men's game at the UCF Arena.

Despite playing with only nine players in uniform, the Bison (2-10) came up with one of their better efforts of the season.  Riding the balanced attack that had eight players scoring, Howard led, 32-30 at the half.  It was only the third time this season that that has happened.

It was truly a team effort as the Bison registered eight assists on 11 field goals and outrebounded the deeper and taller Knights, 24-15, including a 12-4 advantage on the offensive glass.

"I was extremely proud of their effort tonight," praised Howard Coach Kevin Nickelberry.  "We got off to a good start and had a great first half.  But the same thing reared its ugly head again.  We got into foul trouble and fatigue set in."

There were four ties and 10 lead changes in the first half and it continued in the second half as neither team could pull away.  Mangham, a freshman forward, and Okoroh took turns answering every challenge that UCF presented.  That is until the Knights (5-3) then began to find the range from beyond the arc.  Tristan Spurlock, Calvin Newell, Kasey Wilson and reserves Daquan Walker and Matt Williams combined to connect on nine of 18, including five of six over the last six minutes to pull away.

The Bison, who played without leading scorer James Daniel (21 points per game) continued to scrap and fight its way but fatigue, foul trouble and lack of depth proved to be too much to overcome.

Okoroh, a 6-5 junior, continues to emerge as one of the top players in the MEAC as he added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals to his stat line in a losing effort.

"Prince was steady again," noted Nickelberry.  "He is playing more and more confident and is providing leadership for this young team."

Mangham, whose previous high was 10 points, connected on six of 11 from the field, four of six from three-point range.  Hill, a red-shirt freshman who started in place of Daniel, added one of his best efforts in recent games, scoring six points and dealing out a career-high five assists.

"Mangham filled a big void for us," said Nickelberry.  "And I thought Keon did a good job of setting the table for us and getting others involved in the offense."

The Knights got a team-high 20 from Wilson, 15 coming after intermission, 19 from Newell and 10 from Walker off the bench.

The Bison won the battle in the paint, 32-22 and on the boards, 42-36.

Howard returns to action on Saturday when it travels New York to take on Fordham at 2 pm and will follow with a conference game on Sunday against Delaware State in the Big Apple Classic at the Barclays Center at 6 pm.

"We have back-to-back games this weekend and hopefully we will be able to get some of our bodies back," he said.  "I have said all along that I really like this group.  Hopefully we can build on this effort and be able to put two halves together this weekend."