Team Continues To Press Through Difficult Season Paul Graham led all scorers with 21 points The season’s first road win will have to come another day as Savannah State’s 42-18 first half lead proved too much tonight for Florida Atlantic to overcome. They knocked off the Owls at Tiger arena 79-66. FAU jumped out to an 8-4 lead early on behind an unexpected fast pace for both teams, which was sloppy on both ends. But that soon changed, as the pace slowed down considerably, and the Owls went stone cold, scoring just 12 points over the next the next 18 plus minutes. Savannah State, however, took advantage of their scoring opportunities, behind solid shooting, and built a 24 point lead heading into the locker room up 42-18 at the break. Florida Atlantic shot just 19.4% for the first half, and went 0 of 9 from long range. The Owls regrouped and put up a very spirited charge in the second behind Paul Graham’s hot hand, cutting the lead to just 13 with just over 9 minutes to play. But Savannah State answered with a 4-0 run quickly to steal the momentum. However, FAU continued to fight, diligently chipping away at the Tiger lead. The Owls pulled to within 7 on a lay-up by Sammy Hernandez, and then 5 off of two Shavar Richardson free throws from a Tiger foul on the ensuing inbounds. But that was as close as the Owls would get, as the Tigers took control again for good. Carlos Monroe saw his first action for the Owls with 7 minutes to go in the first, playing the rest of the period, but did not score. Afterwards, he appeared to favor his injured foot and would not return. The loss drops FAU to 6-22 on the year. Chris Linton was the Tiger’s top scorer with 20 points. He was followed by Tracy Rankins who added 17 in the win. That’s The Stats Jack Paul Graham led all scorers with 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Brett Royster was perfect from the floor (6 of 6) scoring 15 points, and added 4 blocks to continue to build upon his all time FAU single season record mark. The Owls outscored the Tigers 48-37 in the second half behind 58.1% shooting. FAU was 15 of 18 from the charity stripe. // Next Up For The Owls The team returns to The Burrow this Saturday, February 21, to host the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee in the final home contest of the season. This will also be the final home games for seniors Paul Graham, Carderro Nwoji, and Sammy Hernandez. Tip-off time is scheduled for 7:00PM EST, but will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the preceding women’s contest.
