| BOCA RATON – The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team wrapped up non-conference action with a 107-72 victory over Florida College Monday evening at FAU Arena. Florida College grabbed an early 8-5 lead, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the contest. But FAU gained control shortly thereafter. A 10-0 run, sparked by a Michael Forrest 3-pointer and a pair of dunks from Dardan Kapiti and Alijah Martin, put the Owls on top 15-8 six minutes into the contest. FAU continued to extend its advantage. A Karlis Silins 3-pointer, one of two the big man hit in the first half, gave the Owls their first double-digit lead at 26-14 with nine minutes left before halftime. A Johnell Davis bucket late in the half pushed the FAU edge over 20 points at 43-22. The Owls maintained that 21-point advantage at the break when Madiaw Niang converted a dunk just before the buzzer. It was the fifth slam of the first half for the Owls. FAU opened the second half with a barrage of 3-pointers. The Owls converted six triples in just more than 5 minutes to start the half. Three of the long-range jumpers came from Jailyn Ingram, with two from Bryan Greenlee and one from Forrest. FAU outscored Florida College 24-13 during that stretch to push its edge over 30 points. The Owls cruised from there, hitting the 100-point mark for the third time this season. Ingram led the way for FAU with 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range. Greenlee added 16 points, while Forrest tacked on 11. Alijah Martin and Kenan Blackshear each added 10. Martin grabbed nine rebounds, leading to a 48-27 FAU edge on the boards. Johnell Davis also had nine rebounds and dished out a career-best six assists. Florida College was paced by Jalon Perry who scored 23. Quoting Coach May FAU Head Coach Dusty May: “Our cutting and off-ball movement improved. We shared the basketball and we were aggressive on the offensive glass. We’re not a great shooting team. We’re a good shooting team, but we’re not a great shooting team. There’s a lot of opportunities with our size, strength and athleticism to get some second-chance shots, second opportunities. I thought our guys really battled to do that tonight.” On Tap The Owls will be off for the holidays and are back in action Jan. 1-2 when Conference USA action begins. FAU hosts Middle Tennessee State in a Friday-Saturday back-to-back series to start league play. Tipoff on Jan. 1 is slated for 7 p.m., while the Saturday contest on Jan. 2 begins at 4 p.m. |
