A 7-0, second-half offensive spurt gave the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team just enough separation to get by Marshall University 71-60 Saturday afternoon at FAU Arena. It was the Owls’ third straight victory during a three-game homestand and solidified their position in first place in Conference USA’s East Division.
FAU led by one, 38-37, when Johnell Davis came off the bench to spark that seven-point offensive outburst. Davis scored the final five points of the 7-0 run on a 3-pointer from the right corner and a pair of free throws. By the 13:20 mark of the second half, FAU (11-8, 4-2 CUSA) held an eight-point lead, 45-37.
“I’m extremely proud of Nelly Davis staying ready and doing so much of the dirty work that he does for our team,” FAU head coach Dusty May said. “He has spent an incredible amount of time on his jump shotand has become a good shooter and another offensive weapon for us in addition to what he does as a defender and rebounder.”
From that point on, Marshall (7-12, 0-6 CUSA) never got closer than six points. The Thundering Herd got that close twice midway through the second half. But each time, FAU responded with a bucket to push the lead back to eight. The Owls eventually pushed their advantage into double digits when Michael Forrest hit a 3-pointer with 10:55 to go.
The Owls held a 13-point advantage on three different occasions and pushed it to 14 late in the contest after a Bryan Greenlee 3-pointer, en route to the 11-point victory.
“In the second half, we got better movement. We started cutting and screening for each other,” May said. “Credit our guys for staying the course. Our bench was great. We gutted it out in a hard-fought, gritty win. That little run in the second half helped us get some separation and I was happy to see us keep that distance the rest of the game.”
For the second straight contest, the Owls had very balanced scoring. Five FAU players were in double digits Thursday in a win over WKU, while four reached double figures Saturday. Alijah Martin once again led the Owls with 14 points, while Greenlee and Forrest each tallied 12. Davis scored a season-high 10 points. Martin grabbed a game-best seven rebounds, while Everett Winchester dished out a game-high three assists.
The Owls were solid defensively against Marshall, holding the Thundering Herd to just 3-of-21 shooting from 3-point range and just 37 percent overall field goal shooting. FAU created 15 turnovers and outscored Marshall 13-5 in points off turnovers.
It was a tight first half where neither team led by more than five points and both sides struggled to get into an offensive rhythm. May said when the team went to the locker room at intermission with a 31-30 lead, they knew there was room for improvement in the second half.
“I felt we were very stagnant in the first half,” May said. “We were very disappointed how we played for the first 20 minutes. Then, we looked at the scoreboard and we were up one. I said ‘Okay, we’ve turned it over, we’ve given up offensive rebounds, we haven’t shot well and we’re up one. That shows how good we’re capable of being. Now, let’s go clean those things up and see where we are.'”
