BOCA RATON, Fla. – The No. 10 Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team (2-1) fell to Bryant (2-3) on Saturday evening.
FIRST HALF
For the second game in a row, the Owls found a score right off the opening tip, this time on a layup by Johnell Davis just four seconds in. Davis scored seven early on to take a 10-2 lead just four minutes in.
The rest of the half became a back-and-forth affair, with Florida Atlantic finding themselves in unfamiliar territory for this season: a deficit. The Owls never let them fall behind by more than two in the first period and with the game tied entering the final minute of the frame, Alijah Martin hit a clutch three-pointer to give his team a 29-26 lead.
SECOND HALF
The Owls faced more adversity in the second half, trailing by as much as 12 with just over five minutes to go.
While Florida Atlantic fought on every possession, holding the Bulldogs to almost six minutes without a field goal, the key shots did not fall.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Dusty May
“Hats off to Bryant. They played determined, they played well, they made the plays they needed to make, and it’s a good basketball team that has faced a lot of adversity and they really came together as a group today. They were quick on the ball, great in transition, tough on the glass…Our identity has been loose basketballs, 50-50 basketballs, rebounds, long rebounds. Over the last couple of years, we were able to get a majority of those and for whatever reason it did not happen. But this is the target everyone talks about. A team comes in that has been a little bit disjointed, they pulled together for a common cause and found a way to play a really good basketball game.”
On what to learn from the loss
“We have to play better offensively and have a clear picture of what we are trying to accomplish. They played so many different defenses, we thought we would see a lot of different defenses and their 3-2 just got us stagnant where we felt like we were always kind of open. It was a lot like FDU in the tournament last year where in the first half, we took those kind of open shots and in the second half we adjusted on the fly…We just have to get back to our identity which is being a more together team.”
Junior Forward Giancarlo Rosado
“We will not let this game define us. We are going to come to practice the next day and prepare for Butler.”
STATS & NOTES
- Davis tallied his second career double-double, leading the team with 17 points and a career-high tying 12 rebounds
- Giancarlo Rosado was the other Owl to reach double digit points with 11
UP NEXT
No time for the Owls to sulk. Florida Atlantic will head to Disney World for the eight-team ESPN Events Invitational. The first game will be Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23, against Butler
FOLLOW THE OWLS
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