| HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team fell in a nip-and-tuck matchup to High Point Tuesday night at the Qubein Center, 55-52. Quotable Head Coach Dusty May: “Obviously, not our best performance, we were a little bit shorthanded. Disappointed with our effort on the glass and the loose ball battle. If we’re not going to shoot the ball well, which certain nights you’re not – especially on the road – you’re going to have to come up with a way to find loose rebounds, loose balls, it’s imperative to winning on the road and we weren’t able to do that tonight.” The Beginning The Owls (7-6) and Panthers (6-6) had a back and forth first half. There were nine lead changes, the ninth of which came when Alijah Martin received the in-bound with four seconds left on the opposite baseline, dribbled full court, and pulled up for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from deep beyond the left wing. The Turning Point HPU took the lead at about the 15-minute mark, and didn’t lose it until 7:58. That Owl advantage was short-lived, with the Panthers scoring the next six to go up 52-47 with 4:40 left. The Finish At that score, and with 3:47 to go, the Owls were whistled for an intentional foul. HPU’s ensuing one-of-two free throws made matched the biggest lead of the night for either team. FAU responded with Johnell Davis making one of two at 2:18, followed by Bryan Greenlee’s old-fashioned three-point play at 1:28 to make it 53-51. The Owls forced a shot clock violation with 41 seconds left – even after an HPU timeout amidst the possession – and Greenlee drew a shooting foul at 27.5. He missed the first but made the second free throw, cutting it to one. The Owls had four fouls to give, and committed three over the next handful of seconds. The fourth (team’s seventh) didn’t come until 15.3, and the Panthers’ Jaden House converted both free throws (even as the team was 1-of-8 from the line to that point). FAU called timeout with 5.1 remaining, but a 3-point attempt to tie was just off-target. Owl the StatsGreenlee led the way with 14 points as well as with five assistsWith 13 points and nine rebounds, Martin was just a point off the team lead and paced the squad in boards, matching his career bestThe duo was joined in double digits by Vladislav Goldin’s 10The Owls fell despite holding the nation’s third-leading scorer, John-Michael Wright (22.2 per game coming in) to just nine. In the Panthers’ 11 games this season, the least he had scored previously was 15What’s Next The Owls open up Conference USA action with two home matchups: Thursday, Dec. 30 against Charlotte, and two days later, Saturday, Jan. 1, hosting Old Dominion. For tickets, click HERE or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS. Follow the Owls For the most up-to-date information on the squad, follow along on Twitter (@FAUMBB), Instagram (@FAUMBB) and Facebook (FAU Men’s Basketball). |
