Men's Basketball Stays Perfect in the TAAC

Wednesday, January 3

Macon, Ga.

6:30 PM ET

Florida Atlantic

Mercer

1/3/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Jan. 3, 2001

Box Score

MACON, GA -

Florida Atlantic University withstood a furious rally by host Mercer University Wednesday night to win 78-77 in a Trans America Athletic Conference battle in Macon, GA. With the victory, FAU remains undefeated in TAAC play at 2-0. The Owls improved to 3-10 overall. Jeff Cowans led all scorers with 22 points while Earnest Crumbley had 16 and Pierre Downing 11. However, the two biggest points of the night came on a pair of free throws by Nick Neumann with four seconds left to preserve the FAU victory.

With the Owls leading 73-63 with 1:13 remaining, the Bears (5-7, 2-1) went on a 6-0 run to pull to within 73-69 with 52 seconds left. A three-pointer by Mercer's Josh Sagester with 21 seconds remaining pulled the Bears to within 75-74. Crumbley then went one-for-two from the free throw line to give FAU a 76-74 lead. Mercer's Rodney Kirtz missed two free throws with six seconds left that could have tied the game. Neumann's free throws were followed by a Sagester trey at the buzzer to account for the final score.

FAU led 31-30 at the half, and after falling behind 2-0, never trailed again. The Owls forced 20 turnovers while committing a season-low 11. FAU shot 45-percent compared to Mercer's 48-percent. Cowans went 8-for-11 from the field including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The 2-0 start in the TAAC is FAU's best since the team opened 3-0 in 1997-98. FAU next hosts Samford University January 6 at 7:00pm.