OXFORD, Miss. – On Friday night, the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team was topped by Ole Miss on the road, 80-67. The Owls hung around all game and were as close as seven points with 2:11 to play, but the Rebels (2-0) finished the game with the final six points to close out FAU (1-1) and seal the win.
With under six minutes to play in the game, Nick Boyd found Alijah Martin who knocked down his second 3-pointer of the night that cut the Rebel lead to 66-58. The Owls attacked the basket and got a pair of good looks with back-to-back layups from Vladislav Goldin and Martin, with Martin’s trimming the Ole Miss lead to 68-62 with 4:18 to go.
The Owls hung within arm’s length down the home stretch, as Ole Miss opened a 72-62 lead with 3:35 to play, but FAU kept chipping away. With 1:39 to play, Goldin was called for a technical foul for grabbing the rim on a made lay-up. The bucket would’ve cut the lead to 74-69, but was waved off, and Ole Miss went up 75-67 on the free throw.
Goldin had a big night for the Owls with 19 points on 9-of-13 (69.2%) from the floor. The sophomore center also led FAU on the glass with nine rebounds. Martin recorded 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 from 3-point range.
QUOTES FROM COACH MAY“We hung around in the second half by playing more efficient on the offensive end,” FAU head coach Dusty May said. “I thought we settled in and got the ball where we needed to, we got it down low, and we drove and kicked. We just had too many self-inflicted wounds that we’ll clean up and fix. We’re proud of our guys’ effort, they battled and competed against a big, strong and physical SEC team.”
STATS & NOTES
- Johnell Davis finished in double-digits for the second straight game with 10 points and went 2-3 from 3-point range
- The Owls displayed efficient offense in the second half by shooting over 50% (54.5%) on 6-of-11 from 3-point range
- FAU spread the basketball around with 16 assists on 26 made field goals, led by Boyd’s and Giancarlo Rosado’s four each
- Ole Miss had a 42-28 lead in points in the paint
SEC SWING CONTINUES MONDAYThe Owls will remain on the road and head to Florida to take on the Gators. Tip time on Monday night is 7 p.m. in Gainesville.
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