The battle of the Owls is upon us as Rice has arrived in Boca Raton for a Sunday afternoon battle with FAU. The Owls of Boca Raton will look to snap a 2 game skid against Rice who will be looking to snap a 3 game losing streak of their own.
Both sides have had their fair share of recent struggles, however both have been able to pull out their fair share of closely contested matchups. Stay tuned below for Live updates as the game progresses.
U16 timeout 1H-
Both sides came out guns blazing, each hitting 4 of their first 6 shots and 1 of their first 2 triples and early on the offense was flowing for both sets of Owls. Leland Walker was leading early on, scoring the first 5 for FAU after Rice jumped out to an early 4-0 lead and heading into the U16 timeout this game was even at 9 a piece with 15:50 to play. The Boca Owls were moving the ball well early, getting 4 assists on their first 4 baskets and while Rice was also finding success they were hustling, with a block and steal through the first 4 minutes.
U12 timeout 1H-
Early on out of the U12 timeout both sides traded triples as Tre Carroll cashed in for FAU while Trae Broadnax hit one for Rice, however after that the Texas Owls sparked a 9-2 run. The Owls offense went quiet, while Rice got a pair of triples from Denver Anglin and Aaron Powell, also getting an and-1 from Andrew Akuchie and heading into the U12 timeout, Rice was holding a 21-14 lead with 11:10 to play. Rice forced 3 FAU turnovers early on which they translated into 6 points and FAU wasn’t doing much to slow down their offense which created an early deficit.
U8 timeout 1H-
Both sides traded buckets out of the U12 timeout, with Baba Miller and Kyky Tandy each scoring at the rim, however Rice continued to hurt FAU from beyond the arc with Alem Husenovic and Anglin each hitting more triples. A step back triple from the corner for KyKy Tandy and an Alley-oop from Tandy to Matas Vokietaitis kept the fans engaged and the players fighting, however the Owls were only able to make a 1 point dent in their deficit, heading into the U8 timeout trailing 29-23 with 7:40 to play.
U4 timeout 1H-
Rice came out of the U8 timeout with another burst of scoring, going on a 7-2 run which jolted their lead to 11, 34-23 and forced Jakus into a timeout with 5:41 to play. The timeout worked to start the bleeding, as Rice didn’t score again until after the U4 timeout, while Tandy hit another triple to make it 36-28 heading into the U4 with 3:53 to play.
Final 4-
The Owls made a push over the final 4 minutes, getting buckets from 3 different players, however they were only able to make a 3 point dent in between U4 and halftime dent heading into half trailing 43-38. The Owls perimeter defense was hurting them, as Rice was shooting 53% from 3 at the break, also forcing 5 FAU turnovers which they turned into 8 points.
2H U16 timeout-
Things began to get away from the Owls to start the second half as Rice came out of halftime on a 10-1 run, getting 8 points from Jacob Dar including 2 triples, which forced Jakus into a timeout with FAU trailing 53-39 with 17:25 to play. That timeout stopped the bleeding but it barely helped FAU cut into their double digit deficit, as heading into the U16 timeout with 15:01 to play Rice was leading 53-41.
2H U12 timeout-
Not much changed over the next 4 minutes, as Rice continued their offensive barrage while FAU remained inconsistent on both ends of the court. Rice did begin to run away with it as a Aaron Powell hit a triple to extend their lead to 59-43 with 13:30 to play, however FAU began to fight back. The Owls went on a 6-0 run over the next minute and change and heading into the U12 timeout, the Owls still trailed by double digits, trailing 59-49.
2H U8 timeout-
The Owls continued to trade buckets, however out of the U12 timeout KyKy Tandy snapped a streak of back and forth shots with a triple and Matas hit a pair of free throws which made it 63-58 with 9:07 to play. After that stretch however, FAU allowed Rice an easy look at the rim which they converted and their offense went cold so heading into the U8 timeout with 7:09 to play FAU trailed Rice 65-58.