Fall to South Jaguars 52-51 on late basket Earlier in the day FAUs womens team dropped a 51-50 contest to New Orleans. Florida Atlantic Athletic Director Craig Angelos was interviewed at the half of todays first round mens game against South Alabama and said we can’t be one and done on both the men and women.” Unfortunately, it didnt work out that way; as both teams saw there seasons end today. In his first game back from injury the Jaguars Bryan Sherrer scored a game high 21 points to lead South Alabama (17-14, 9-10) to a 52-51 victory over Florida Atlantic (14-16, 10-9) in Hot Springs, AR. In a game that started out sloppy, South Alabama had seven turnovers in the first five minutes of play. The Owls pushed to an early 10-5 lead, but an Allyn Cook lay-up completed a 10-0 run by USA giving them a five point advantage at the 11:00 minute mark of the period. Normally a consistent threat from long range, Greg Gantt struggled in the first frame going scoreless on his first seven attempts from the floor, and 0-6 from long range, as the Owls would eventually trail 30-19 at intermission. Florida Atlantic shot just 20% for the half, and 27.3% for the contest. I think some of the young kids, the freshman, they built a wall and decided to play on one side of it instead of over it, said Coach Jarvis. They played like freshmen, very, very tentative. You cant play that way once you get in the tournament. The Jaguars would take their largest lead of the game at 42-28 with 12:14 to play, but the Owls would storm back as a Ray Taylor 3-pointer completed a 22-8 run to tie it up with forty seconds remaining. After a Taylor steal, Sanchez Hughley hit one of two free throws to put the Owls up 51-50. But Sherrer, who had a hot hand all afternoon, scored the game deciding bucket with just 4.0 seconds left. FAU had two tries afterwards to pull ahead for the win, but Shavar Richardson and Brett Royster each missed lay-ups. I wasnt sure exactly how much time was on the clock, but I just put it up there too hard, said Royster. I just keep playing it over and over in my head if I would have rolled it off of the glass it would have gone in. Royster had a monster day for FAU despite the loss, finishing with 13 points, 16 rebounds, and six blocks. Box Score Discussion
