Men's Basketball Falls Short Against Georgia State

Saturday, February 24

Boca Raton, Fla.

7:00 PM ET

Florida Atlantic

Georgia State

2/24/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Feb. 24, 2001

Box Score

BOCA RATON, FL -

A spirited effort by Florida Atlantic University wasn't enough as the Owls fell 88-79 to visiting Georgia State University Saturday night in Boca Raton, FL. Jeff Cowans led five players in double-figures for the Owls (6-23, 5-13 Trans America Athletic Conference) as both teams concluded their regular seasons. GSU's Thomas Terrell led all scorers with 28 points. Shernard Long added 23 for the Panthers. GSU's Bam Campbell had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

GSU (25-4, 16-2) opened the game with a 14-6 run over the first 5:04 before the Owls mounted a 13-4 rally to take their first lead with 11:47 left in the half. GSU then went on a 17-4 run to lead 35-23 with 5:35 left in the first half. The Panthers would lead 44-38 at the break.

Trailing 46-40 with 18:39 left, John Smart connected on consecutive threes to tie the game at 46 with 16:31 left. Following a GSU timeout, the Panthers went on a 13-3 run over the next 4:30 to regain the double-digit lead.

The Panthers led by as many as 13 late in the second half before sealing the game at the free throw line. Terrell went 10-of-12 from the stripe as GSU went 23-of-34 overall.

"They're a very good team," said FAU head coach Sidney Green on Georgia State, which is the top-seed and host at next week's TAAC Tournament in Atlanta. "If we could have played like this a few more times this year, we would have more wins than we do. It's a great confidence boost for us going into the conference tournament."

FAU's Robert Williams finished with 13, Pierre Downing and Smart 12, and Brown 10. Smart went 4-of-5 from beyond the arc while Terrell went 4-of-7. Both teams pulled down 39 rebounds as GSU outshot FAU 50-percent to 41-percent.

FAU next plays Campbell Wednesday night in the opening round of the TAAC Tournament. The winner will face top-seed GSU Thursday evening.