FAU Men’s Basketball Outlasts Palm Beach Atlantic 84-79
BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Nov. 16, 2019)– The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team withstood a valiant comeback attempt to defeat Palm Beach Atlantic 84-79 on Saturday. The Owls evened their record to 2-2.
The Start
The Owls hit several layups in the early going and Jaylen Sebree converted a three-point play to put FAU up 14-8 less than five minutes into the contest. The Sailfish (3-1) fought back to tie the score at 16, when the Owls’ big men asserted themselves. Aleksandar Zecevic and Dardan Kapiti combined for the game’s next 10 points and gave FAU its first double-digit lead of the night, 26-16. PBA responded with eight unanswered points to trim the margin to two.
Another FAU push extended the lead to a dozen at 45-33 late in the first half. The lead was 10 when a Sailfish shooter was fouled just before the buzzer and made two of three, making the score 47-39 at the break.
The Turning Point
PBA hit back-to-back triples out of the halftime locker room to pull to within two, but FAU was once again able to answer and stretch the lead back out to 10 when Richardson Maitre hit a three-pointer at the 16:41 mark.
The Sailfish didn’t go away and steadily chipped away at the deficit. A pair of free throws gave them a 73-72 lead with 2:25 to play.
The Finish
Jailyn Ingram hit a free throw line jumper to put FAU back in the lead, but the Sailfish answered with a three-pointer from the corner to go up 76-74. Cornelius Taylor found Karlis Silins for a layup, then after a FAU defensive stop, hit a corner three of his own, making the score 79-76 in the Owls’ favor with 31 seconds on the clock. After PBA split a trip to the line, Ingram made both of his free-throw attempts. PBA made a jumper with seven seconds left, but Taylor’s sunk two free throws to effectively end any hopes of a comeback for the Sailfish.
Notables
- Aleksandar Zecevic scored a career-high 16 points and also grabbed five rebounds
- He is the Owls’ fourth different leading scorer in as many games this season
- Michael Forrest had 13 points and three steals
- Cornelius Taylor posted 10 points, including the late go-ahead three-pointer
- FAU outrebounded PBA 43-29 on the night.
- As a team, the Owls made 16-of-19 from the free throw line
Quotable
Head Coach Dusty May
“I thought the last four minutes, we played with a bounce in our step and (with) confidence. We’re going to be in some tight games in our league and hopefully, this will pay dividends later.”
“I thought we had a lot of really good looks that just didn’t fall. We have so many new pieces and parts that aren’t used to playing with each other.”
What’s Next
The Owls travel to Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday, Nov. 20. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be available at fausports.com. The game can be heard on FOX Sports 640AM. Live updates will be posted to the team’s official Twitter account, @FAU_Hoops.
