| BOCA RATON (FAUSports.com) – A big first-half offensive outburst from the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team led the Owls to a 84-57 Conference USA victory over Southern Miss Saturday at FAU Arena. The victory put FAU in first place in the C-USA USA East Division, continuing the Owls’ best start ever in Conference USA. Brandon Weatherspoon recorded a career-best and team-leading 16 points off the bench to lead five Owls in double figures. Everett Winchester and Michael Forrest added 13, while Bitumba Baruti added 10 off the bench and Vlad Goldin tallied 10 as well. Forrest also led the way with six rebounds and five assists. “I’m very proud of our effort, especially our reserves, our bench guys,” head coach Dusty May said. “There’s not much separation on our team between the starters and reserves. Hats off to those guys. Brandon Weatherspoon, hats off to him. Overall, I thought our guys played really, really well. They took what the defense gave them.” FAU (14-9, 7-3 CUSA) put together a 17-3 run, including a pair of 3-pointers from Forrest and one from Baruti, early in the contest to grab a 24-11 lead midway through the first half. The Owls eventually built an 18-point lead late in the first half, with Weatherspoon coming off the bench to score eight points in the opening stanza. Southern Miss (6-16, 1-8 CUSA) looked to grab some momentum in the final minutes of the half. An 8-0 Golden Eagle run cut the FAU lead to 10, 40-30. A pair of Vlad Goldin free throws stemmed the tide and gave FAU a 42-30 edge at the intermission. It was all FAU in the second half. Southern Miss never got closer than the 12 they trailed by at halftime. FAU extended its lead to 24 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Baruti and Alijah Martin midway through the second half. The Owls continued to build their advantage, pushing to an edge of as many as 28 en route to the 27-point victory. Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 19 points to lead all scorers for Southern Miss. The Owls are back in action at home Tuesday evening, hosting Old Dominion. Tipoff vs. the Monarchs at The Burrow is slated for 6 p.m. The contest vs. ODU was originally scheduled for Jan. 1, but was rescheduled due to Covid-19 protocols. |
