BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Nov. 5, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University saw its 25-point lead cut down to as little as five late, but was ultimately able to defeat Flagler 92-81 in its season opener on Tuesday night. The Owls won their season opener for the second year in a row.
The Start
The action in the early going featured lots of up and down play, but not a lot of scoring. After a Flagler layup cut FAU’s lead to one at 10-9, Jailyn Ingram responded with a layup of his own, starting a run of 15 straight Owls’ points. FAU led 25-9 at the end of the run. Four made three-pointers helped the Owls extended their advantage to 53-28. Flagler scored the final four points of the first half to make the score 53-32 at the break.
The Turning Point
A Cornelius Taylor triple gave FAU a 73-51 edge just over nine minutes into the second half. At that point, the Saints went on a 25-9 run, capped off by three Gedi Juozapolis free throws to pull within five, 82-77, with four and a half minutes to go.
The Finish
Taylor hit a pair from the charity stripe, then hit another three-pointer less than 90 seconds later to extend the margin back to 10, 89-79. The Owls clamped down defensively, giving up only four points over the game’s final 4:26 to help seal the win.
Notables
- Graduate transfer Cornelius Taylor scored 20 points in his first official game as an Owl to lead the team
- Karlis Silins had 13 points and three rebounds
- Michael Forrest notched 12 points
- As a team, the Owls shot 52.4 percent from the floor, including 42.3 percent from behind the arc
- All 13 Owls who saw the floor scored
- Head Coach Dusty May improved to 2-0 in season openers
Quotable
Head Coach Dusty May
“It was great because we were in a pressure situation. Typically, the team that’s favored, the team that’s at home, the higher-level team tends to get tight and they’re afraid to lose, as opposed to making plays to win. I never saw fear in our guys’ eyes.
Sophomore Guard Everett Winchester
“We put in a lot of work this summer, this offseason and we’re just buying in to what Coach May tells us.”
On Jailyn Ingram’s return…
‘It’s really cool to see him get back into it after everything he went through last season with the ACL injury…It’s going to be a great year for him.”
Junior Forward Jailyn Ingram
On Cornelius Taylor…
“The things he did in the game, he does every day in practice. He makes big shots, so I expected nothing less from him.”
What’s Next
The Owls make their first road trip of the season on Friday, Nov. 8 at Miami. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. Links to live stats will be available at fausports.com. The game can be heard on FOX Sports 640AM. The game will air on Fox Sports Florida and will be streamed on ACC Network Extra. Live updates will be posted to the team’s official Twitter account, @FAU_Hoops.
– FAUSports.com –
Florida Atlantic University Athletics:
FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.
