BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team stormed back to tie things up with Miami in the waning seconds Tuesday night in front of a sell-out crowd at Abessinio Court inside FAU Arena, but the Hurricanes won it on a lay-in with 0.7 seconds left, 68-66.
QuotableHead Coach Dusty May:
“Hats off to (Isaiah) Wong, he got a basket in a crucial situation. But I think we did grow up from the first half to the second half. We are a work in progress, but we have a chance to be a very good basketball team.”
On the Owls’ last run:
“There was eight minutes left and we felt like we were still playing poorly. I do think that our guys’ character, and their positivity, they felt like we had another run in us. We made the last eight minutes very very interesting.”
The BeginningMiami led for most of the first half, and held a 14-point lead at the break. But the Owls turned it around to start the second, scoring 13 of the first 18 points to cut it to a six-point game at the 15:40 mark.
The Turning PointWith 13 minutes left, it was still a seven-point spread, but UM scored the next seven straight over the next 1:15 to equal their halftime lead. At 8:20, the Hurricane lead matched the game’s high of 16. Everett Winchester converted a basket and was fouled heading into that media break, starting an 8-0 FAU run to cut it in half (to 55-47) and force a UM timeout.
The FinishThe Owls kept chipping away until back-to-back three-point plays by Alijah Martin and Michael Forrest made it a 60-57 game with just over three minutes left. After UM made one of two from the line, so too did Martin, keeping the Owls within three. Miami connected on a jumper, then a Forrest 3-pointer in the left corner at 1:42 made it 63-61. The Hurricanes countered with two free throws, and then the teams traded empty possessions, leaving just 25 seconds to go and another Miami 1-of-2 trip to the line.
On the other end, Bryan Greenlee converted yet another Owl basket and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but corralled his own rebound and found Forrest, who nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to tie things up with 12 seconds left. That marked the game’s only tie, but it was short-lived, as Isaiah Wong’s layup with 0.7 seconds left gave the visitors the win.
Owl the Stats
- Forrest (21) and Martin (17) combined for 38 points, and 31 of those came in the second half. Forrest was 5-of-10 (and 3-of-6 from behind the arc) towards 16 second-half points, while Martin went 5-of-8 after the break, including two 3-pointers
- Greenlee totaled nine points in the game on 4-of-6 shooting, with Winchester adding seven
- Vladislav Goldin had his first double-digit rebounding game with 11, followed in that category by Martin’s six
- The Owls shot 53% from the field in the second half and 49% for the game
- Also after the break, FAU committed just three turnovers and held an 8-0 points-off-turnovers advantage
- The game was played in front of 2,772 fans, the sixth-largest recorded crowd at FAU Arena in the last 14 years
What’s NextThis weekend the Owls host The Paradise Classic, playing three games in four days. The first game featuring the home squad is Friday night at 6 p.m. against UT Martin. FAU will also play on Saturday (North Dakota) and Monday (Troy). For tickets, click HERE or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS.
Follow the OwlsFor the most up-to-date information on the squad, follow along on Twitter (@FAUMBB), Instagram (@FAUMBB) and Facebook (FAU Men’s Basketball).
