| BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team capped off a 2-0 week at home by defeating North Florida, 76-41, Sunday afternoon on Abessinio Court inside FAU Arena. QuotableHead Coach Dusty May: “We were very proud of our effort on both sides of the ball. I think it was the hardest we’ve played, the most competitive we’ve been for 40 minutes. Offensively, we turned it over too much, but I thought a lot of the turnovers were in a good place mentally, where we were maybe overpassing or looking for our teammates, so those are kinks that we’ll get worked out. But very proud of our effort today.” The BeginningThough the Owls (5-4) led 9-2 and 12-4 to start, UNF (2-8) tied it up at 14-14, and with 11:19 to go, it was a one-point game. Over the next 5:40, FAU stormed ahead with a 16-2 run. Six different Owls tallied points in the stretch, including Michael Forrest, whose jumper at the 6:30 mark gave him career points 1,000 and 1,001. An Alijah Martin 3-pointer capped the offensive onslaught, to the tune of a 33-18 lead. The Turning PointThe Ospreys countered with 11 straight of their own, finally snapped by a Bryan Greenlee scoop shot with 1:16 left. Madiaw Niang followed with a driving bank shot, and Giancarlo Rosado beat the buzzer with a layup for the final six points of the period and a 39-29 halftime lead. FAU also scored the first nine points out of the break, for the game’s largest lead. All told, the 11-point UNF run was offset by 15 straight for the Owls. The FinishThe Ospreys didn’t record a point after their 11-0 run until 13:28 to go in the second, a total scoreless stretch of 9:04 of gametime. A three-point play at that point by UNF cut the deficit to 16, the closest it would be. A late 8-0 run pushed the FAU advantage to 29, largest of the season for the Owls (an edge that would end up being as much as 35, at the final horn). Owl the Stats Bryan Greenlee was 6-of-9 from the field towards a team-high 14 Forrest was next with 13, and matched his career high with six assists Martin and Rosado each scored eight Greenlee and Batumba Baruti tied for the high with six boards, one more than Vladislav Goldin and Everett Winchester, each with five It was a 40-26 total rebounding edge for FAU Twelve of the 13 Owls that saw the floor scored, and combined for a 53.6% field goal percentage (56% in the second half alone). In the paint, it was a 38-14 advantage, it was 21-11 off turnovers, 13-4 second chance, 11-2 on fast break, and 33-21 in bench scoring Forrest not only made his way onto the 1,000-point club, he surpassed Mike Bell for 13th place as well: 1 Greg Gantt (2009-13) 1,972 2 Earnest Crumbley (2000-04) 1,559 3 Paul Graham III (2005-09) 1,521 4 Craig Buchanan (1993-97) 1,501 5 Jeff Cowans (2000-04) 1,388 6 Jailyn Ingram (2016-21) 1,334 7 Carlos Monroe (2005-09) 1,316 8 Damon Arnette (1996-99) 1,246 9 Pablo Bertone (2010-14) 1,153 10 Raymond Taylor (2009-12) 1,037 11 Marquan Botley (2013-16) 1,018 12 Shavar Richardson (2008-11) 1,018 13 Michael Forrest (2018-Pres.) 1,006 14 Mike Bell (2003-05) 1,001  What’s Next The Owls’ nine-game, 26-day homestand comes to a close this upcoming Wednesday night, a 7 p.m. tipoff against Palm Beach Atlantic. For tickets, click HERE or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS. Follow the OwlsFor the most up-to-date information on the squad, follow along on Twitter (@FAUMBB), Instagram (@FAUMBB) and Facebook (FAU Men’s Basketball). |
