ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – UCF has extended its naming rights partnership with Addition Financial Credit Union for an additional dozen years—in the process continuing to identify Addition Financial Arena on the UCF campus as the Knights’ home for men’s and women’s basketball games and a variety of other events.

The new agreement is a 12-year, $20 million partnership that follows up the original naming rights pact signed by UCF and Additional Financial in 2013. The new deal takes effect Jan. 1, 2023.

The UCF Board of Trustees approved the name at its meeting this morning, and the full deal is expected to be approved Aug. 25 by the UCF Athletics Association.

“We’ve had a partnership with Addition Financial for nearly a decade, and we’re excited that Kevin Miller and the Addition Financial Board have agreed to extend our relationship for an additional 12 years,” says UCF vice president and athletics director Terry Mohajir. “This is a great new venture with outstanding community partners.

“Resources will be paramount as we transition into the Big 12 Conference a year from now, and Addition Financial will play a key role for us as we invest more resources to enhance our education and athletics missions!”

In 2013, Addition Financial was named the Official Financial Institution of the UCF Knights and is the exclusive credit union for UCF Athletics. Since that time, Addition Financial has partnered with UCF Athletics to provide scholarships, financial education workshops and other sponsorship support. Addition Financial is also the home of the official UCF Knights debit cards, with designs featuring the new Knight head and the Citronaut.

“Addition Financial is proud to continue our longstanding partnership with UCF Athletics and to align with Orlando’s hometown teams. Knight Nation has truly inspired us along their journey to the Big 12, and we look forward to embarking on that journey alongside them as we extend our partnership,” said Kevin Miller, Addition Financial president and CEO.

The 10,000-seat Addition Financial Arena has been home to the UCF men’s and women’s basketball programs since the start of their 2007-08 seasons. Located in the heart of Knights Plaza on the north side of campus, the state-of-the-art facility opened in the fall of 2007 and also hosts premiere concerts along with UCF commencement ceremonies.

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – The UCF Knights (5-4) hosted the Quinnipiac Bobcats (1-6) at Addition Financial Arena Tuesday night in just their third overall meeting; with both teams splitting the match-ups with one win each in previous years’ match-ups. The last game between the two schools was December 29, 2005 in Orlando, which the Bobcats won 71-55. This time, however, the outcome favored the Knights.

The first half of the game was competitive with the score tied on four occasions and seven lead changes. UCF Knights entered halftime with a 40-29 lead over the Bobcats. Leading the Knights in scoring was Kay Kay Wright with 10 points; and for the Bobcats, Shaq Edwards with 12 points.

The Knights started the third period on a mission with a 10-2 run, increasing their lead to 18 points. With a mixture of defenses and using their length inside, the Knights controlled the second half with offense rebounding, winning the battle of points in the paint (50-10) and forcing 22 turnovers from the Bobcats that resulted in 21 points for the Knights. In the end, the Knights won the contest 80-58. Leading all scorers was Shaq Edwards of Quinnipiac and Brittney Smith of UCF with 18 points apiece.

Next up, UCF Women’s Basketball host St. Mary’s (4-5) Friday, December 20, 2019 at 2:30pm.

___________________________________

Jelisa Caldwell is a Florida National News sports contributor. | info@floridanationalnews.com

ORLANDO, Fla. (FNN SPORTS) – In the final game of the opening day of the American Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament, the Central Florida Knights used defense carry them to a 66-52 victory over the East Carolina Pirates.

Senior guard B.J. Taylor led the Knights in scoring with 17 points and head coach Johnny Dawkins’ team forced 20 turnovers in the victory. In front of a partisan crowd at Amway Center, the Knights used a 10-0 run to put them up by 11 with 6:12 to go in the game. After the Pirates cut the lead to 46-45 with 9:15 to go, Terrell Allen had two steals in a three-minute stretch and A.J. Davis capped the run with back-to-back layups that put the game out of reach.

____________________________________

Danny Thompson is a sports contributor for Florida National News. | info@floridanationalnews.com

.