Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Florida Atlantic
Gardner-Webb
Owls Fly Past Gardner-Webb, 72-51
1/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2006
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. (www.gwusports.com) - Florida Atlantic hit 10 of its first 11 shots Sunday afternoon and never looked back, flying past host Gardner-Webb 72-51 to send the Runnin' Bulldogs to their fourth loss in a row, all at home.
FAU (7-7, 6-1 A-Sun), under first year head coach Matt Doherty, shot 64.3 percent in the first half to forge a 46-31 edge - and scored the first bucket of the second half on a steal and dunk by Rodney Webb to quickly push the lead to 17.
Gardner-Webb (6-8, 3-5 A-Sun) would cut the lead to 13 twice, but again struggled taking care of the basketball with 18 turnovers for the game. Florida Atlantic kept GWU center Simon Conn in check offensively, as the 6-foot-9 center managed just five shots from the floor for five points - 10 points below his season average. Conn did pull down 10 rebounds and blocked four shots, but struggled to get open against the Owls' quicker post players.
DeAndre Rice, the A-Sun's second-leading scorer, finished with a game-high 18 points to lead FAU, hitting 4-of-6 shots from long range. Webb added 16 points and 10 rebounds, his sixth double-double of the year.
Carlos Monroe hit double figures in his third straight appearance, netting 10 points while grabbing six boards. Paul Graham had his second best game of the year, scoring 11 points and hitting all five of his field goal attempts.
FAU shot a strong 58.3 percent for the game and 61.5 percent from three-point range (8-for-13), both season highs. The 21-point margin of victory was also the Owls' best this year.
Tim Jennings, Brian Bender and Chris Gash each had 11 points to pace Gardner-Webb - but the Runnin' Bulldogs again struggled from the floor, hitting just 18 field goals (53 attempts) for a 34.0 percent effort. GWU hit just 5-of-19 shots from long range, missing 13 of its last 15 after starting 3-for-4 in the game's first five minutes.
Gardner-Webb has dropped four-straight at home on the season, the first time in more than two seasons that a GWU team has lost four in a row in Paul Porter Arena. The `Dogs went 11-2 at home last season en route to the A-Sun regular season title.
The Owls return to action on Tuesday when they head to Buies Creek, N.C. to take on Campbell at 7:00 p.m. The game can be heard on 1040 AM WLVJ and www.fausports.com.
