(Photo via FAU Athletics)
While most folks who spend 2 weeks in Charleston may kick back and relax, FAU had a bit of a different approach during the early portion of their 2 week stay. After a heartbreaking double OT loss to Charleston less than 24 hours ago, FAU matched up with Liberty and the Owls fought back from down 12 in the first half, ultimately forcing overtime once again and going on to win 77–74.
It was a test of will power for the Owls, as early on FAU found themselves trailing by 12 and Liberty was shutting down their perimeter game as heading into the U12 timeout FAU had only attempted one 3. FAU ultimately battled back cutting the lead to 3 by halftime, finding their 3-point shot shortly after the U-12 timeout, however they also took what Liberty was giving them down low and although Liberty was winning the 3 point battle at half-time, FAU was winning points in the paint.
Liberty came in with their usual hard-nosed defensive mindset and was forcing FAU to beat them on 2’s rather than 3’s and early on it was working, but the Owls were quick to adjust. The Owls eventually found success, as Matas Vokietaitis dominated against smaller opponents, finishing with 17 points and 6 rebounds, Leland Walker was a major spark in the second half, totaling 16 points and 3 assists, while Kaleb Glenn came off the bench with 12 points and 5 rebounds, giving FAU the physicality they needed late. FAU ran multiple different looks to combat the Flames defense, but according to FAU Coach John Jakus, Kaleb Glenn was a focal point, as he found different ways to combat Liberty outside of the 3-point shot.
“I think at the end of the day, you look at our stats, if you let us make threes, we’re going to get to 90 or 100. And they like holding their opponents to under 65 points. I think that’s true in all three games this year so far. So they wanted to force us to make tough twos. And if you look down the stretch, we went to three things, a wide pin down that Ken and Matas and some Atos like that. Went to a ball screen that I thought executed really well out of time out where Leland hit Matas on a roll, and then we went to KG (Kaleb Glenn) from two. And I just want to really applaud Kaleb Glenn, because he’s a kid that transferred from Louisville, a young guy top 50 out of high school, played at a great high school, and his high school coach called me and told me what a special person he was, and he’s been everything and more. And he had 27 yesterday, I believe, and he was rough and his legs were tired, but at the end of the game, he really stepped up. And so then taking away the three really gave Kaleb a chance to shine. And I thought his back downs down the stretch were one of the big difference makers. So we prefer to shoot more threes, but to have KG today kind of close from two, we are thankful for that,” Jakus said.
(Photo via FAU Athletics)
After the Owls brought it within 3 before halftime, they had to continue their fight into the second half. Both teams traded buckets, with Liberty holding a lead of 5 at points, but no larger than that and about halfway through the second half each side upped their defensive intensity. After the U12 timeout, each side went on a streak that saw them not score a point for over 2 and a half minutes, before Ken Evans Jr cashed in on a triple to cut the lead back to 2, 57-55 with 9:17 remaining. Following that shot, another drought occurred which saw no team make a shot from the field for nearly 3 minutes, however Kaleb Glenn converted a fade away triple to tie the game at 58 with 6:22 to go.
The Owls battled hard during that stretch, overcoming defensive issues during the past 2 games to stymie a Liberty team, which even early in this game were finding ways to get open looks from 3 and converting. Allowing open 3’s hurt FAU in the past 2 games and early on in this one, however the Owls locked up in the second half, holding Liberty to 34% from the field and 8.3% from 3.
John Jakus mentioned making defensive adjustments and having to be able to respond in game following the recent losses and in this one they were able to do that and their offensive changes late left Liberty being unable to respond. The Owls ability to hold Liberty nearly scoreless over 5 minutes in the second half was a huge factor in their win in this one and Jakus is proud of that knowing they did that on the second half of a back to back.
“I think we have to be level headed about that, just because we played Indiana State in a neutral, and I think we held them under 1.8 points per possession. Today, we are in a neutral, and our defense was really good. We struggled in two almost sold out road games, and I think the guys are going to have to learn, especially when our plans start so well in the beginning, when they go to their second and third options, how to guard and get through those moments and allow gym. And that’s part of growing up. So certainly, our two road games, we weren’t great defense. The two neutrals, we got better, but I think at the point we had eight, nine, ten, stops in a row, and to do that after double overtime last night, no legs for a team that’s been relying on its offense. I was really proud of the fact that they dug in and could count on getting some stops,” Jakus said.
The Owls showed impressive resilience following a double-ot barnburner less than 24 hours prior to the tip-off of this matchup, finding a way to get past an extremely defensively sound team in Liberty. It wasn’t the flashy shooting that helped FAU win their first 2 matchups, or even the bench points as FAU finished with a season low 36 off the bench in this one, rather FAU simply took this game one possession at a time and made the necessary adjustments to pull out the victory.
A team with 10 new players could easily have trouble pulling out tonight’s victory, as Coach Ritchie McKay brings in a well oiled machine in Liberty with veteran leadership that knows how to close out ball games. Instead it was the squad with mainly new players who came together over the final few minutes to pull out a gritty victory, adjusting defensively to close out on shooters more consistently and finding other ways outside of the 3-point shot to score on the other end.
A game like this shows a lot about what this team can be capable of, as when FAU found themselves with their backs against the wall, they responded, giving them momentum heading into the most important portion of their non-conference schedule. Jakus says a big key to the Owls success tonight and going forward was their usage of the staff, as they had different members assigned to different tasks, which freed up Jakus to identify necessary adjustments and the Owls executed them perfectly.
“I think you just got to split up your staff well. And I think some guys like Todd Abernathy did the scout. And while the rest of us were reviewing the last game and I was setting up my film for today to fix some of the defensive issues and call some guys out, we could really trust Todd. Todd did a really good job. And part of our success on defense in the second half, especially is because of the work Todd did overnight. So I’m really thankful for him, thankful for the staff. And at the end of the day, whether it’s the conference tournament, the tournament next week, you’re gonna have to play back to backs. So if you want to make an NCAA tournament, this is something you have to practice, and to practice an overnight Scout while they’re that tired after double overtime. I thought it was a real gross step for our guys,” Jakus said.
It was a team effort indeed tonight for the Owls and one they can hang their hats on with pride for the next 4 days. FAU will get to enjoy a few off-days in Charleston before the Shriners Children’s Classic which will tip off on Thursday at TD Arena where the Owls will take on Oklahoma State.
Previous in-game recap
First 4 minutes
The Owls came out of the gates with a jolt of energy as Matas Vokietaits slammed one home on the first possession of the day and Leland Walker followed him up with a mid-range jumper and the Owls jumped out quickly to a 4-0 lead. Liberty responded quicky, and a Kaden Matheny open corner triple, something that has plagued FAU over the past few games, regained Liberty the lead 5-4.
Metheny got hot from there, hitting another triple a few possesions later and his 3rd of the first 4 minutes gave Liberty 13-8 lead heading into the U16 timeout.
Following U16 timeout
Liberty took control of this game early on, as out of the U16 break Metheny was fouled on a 3 point shot and he hit all 3 free throws and on the next possession Ihnen Isaiah hit another triple to jolt their lead to 19-8 with 14:14 to play. A few possessions later, Zander Yates hit another Liberty triple, extending their lead to 22-10 and a Vokietaitis pair of free throws for FAU made the score 22-12 heading into the U12 timeout.
Following U12 timeout
Liberty came out of the break converting on an alley-oop looking to grab a hold of momentum, extending their lead to 24-12. FAU responded going on a 13-1 run, sparked by 5 straight points from Baba Miller and a Max Langenfeld triple brought it within 2, 26-24 with with 7:06 to play in the half. Liberty responded with 5 straight points of their own, however this game was developing into a battle, as FAU responded with 6 straight, and back-to-back triples from Tre Carroll and Max Langenfeld made the score 31-29 heading into the U8 timeout with 4:26 remaining.
Final 4 minutes
The Owls regained the lead after Kaleb Glenn converted on a pair of free throws and Vokietaitis converted on second chance points to regain the lead 33-32 with 2:51 remaining. Liberty responded with an 8-3 run, with Metheny getting another triple and their lead was back to 4, 40-36 with 50 seconds remaining. Collin Porter hit a pair of free throws to get the lead up to 6, however Leland Walker went the length of the court and hit a contested triple at the buzzer, to make the score 42-39 heading into half.
Halftime thoughts
The Owls once again have been struggling to contain open shooters, as Liberty started the game 50% from the field and 44% from 3 and Kaden Metheny was the main culprit hurting them, as he finished with 15 points at the half. The Owls did a better job in the final 10 minutes of the half and got more of an offensive showing, as Vokietaitis was the leading scorer with 10 at the break and the owls were winning the paint battle 16-10.
First 4 minutes of second half
The 2 squads traded buckets to start the second half, and the Owls got all of their scoring from Vokietaits and Walker through the first 4 minutes and Vokietaitis was continuing his strong paint play and his bucket down low made the score 48-47 heading into the U16 timeout with 15:04 to play.
Following U16 2H timeout
Kaden Metheny came out of the break with a 4-0 run of his iown, jolting the lead back up to 2 possessions and they were able to keep it that way for the next couple of minutes. Nico Moretti hit a triple to cut it to 52-50 liberty with 13:52 to play, however Pete Talaon responded on the next possession with a triple of his own and after Glenn and Cleveland traded buckets, Liberty took a 57-52 lead into the U12 media timeout with 10:52 to play.
Following U12 media timeout
The Owls defense was locking liberty up, however the Flames were not allowing much either. Both sides were nearly scoreless for over 2 minutes, however Ken Evans Jr cashed in from 3 to cut the defecit to 57-55 which was our score heading into the u8 media timeout. FAU went into the break 1 for their last 8, while Liberty was on a scoring drought for the last 4 minutes and 39 seconds.
Following U8 timeout
Jayvohn Maughmer split a pair of free throws to get the lead up to 3, however on the ensuing possession Kaleb Glenn responded with a fadeaway triple which tied it at 58, which was the last bit of scoring we saw for a while. That score held all the way into the U4 timeout, as neither side made a bucket for over 2 and a half minutes and this game was a full on battle.
Final 4 minutes
The basket started to open back up following a down stretch, as Leland Walker and Owen Aquino traded buckets right out of the U4 break. Each side continued to trade buckets back and forth for the next 2 minutes, exchanging a one point lead. Matas Vokietaitis went to the line with 19 seconds remaining trailing 66-67, and he split a pair. Liberty had an open look from their best shooter on the ensuing possession, however he missed and the game went to OT tied at 67.
Overtime
The back and forth affair continued in the early portion of overtime, as through the first 2 and half minutes the game remained tied at 72, however a minute later the Owls went on a run that would seal the deal. Kaleb Glenn scored 3 straight points to jolt the Owls lead to 75-74 after they fell behind by 2 and after the Owls defense forced a stop on the other end, Nico Moretti was fouled and had ice in his veins as he drained 2 free throws which extended the lead to 77-74 with Liberty having one final possession. Liberty got a good look at a 3 pointer from Metheny on their final possession, however it rimmed out, sealing an FAU 77-74 victory.