Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Florida Tech on October 30, 2025 at TBD

1/7/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
BOCA RATON, FL - The highly-anticipated and long-awaited debut of Carlos Monroe was a tremendous success as the Florida Atlantic men's basketball team defeated Mercer, 91-80, in Atlantic Sun Conference action at FAU Arena on Saturday.
The 6'8" 245-pound forward quietly entered the game at the 15:03 mark of the first half but made plenty of noise in his first 5:47 of collegiate action, scoring 10 points while going 4-4 from the field and 2-2 from the free throw line. He finished the game with 14 points and four rebounds in 18 minutes.
Monroe's contributions spurred a run that allowed FAU (5-7, 4-1 A-Sun) to overcome a 12-7 deficit and take a 25-21 lead with 8:43 to go in the half. The Owls' lead grew to as many as seven points before settling for a 42-38 advantage at the break.
Florida Atlantic came out of halftime running, building a 62-47 lead at the 10:48 mark. The Owls' 17-point advantage, 72-55, with 5:13 remaining was their largest of the season, and the 11-point margin of victory was their first in double figures this year.
FAU shot a season-high 57.7% from the field and won the battle on the glass for the third consecutive game, 28-25. The Owls connected on 22-27 free throws and totaled 20 assists while committing just 10 turnovers.
DeAndre Rice had a team-high 20 points to go along with five assists. Rodney Webb added 16 points and a career-best four steals
Fred Marshall and Kevin Green scored career highs with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Brent Crews contributed six points, six rebounds and five assists for FAU.
"Carlos (Monroe) certainly gave us a boost tonight," said head coach Matt Doherty. "But it takes a team effort to win these games. We play for the name on the front of the jersey and not on the back and had a strong performance as a team."
Mercer (3-8, 2-3 A-Sun) was led by Andrew Brown and Jacob Skogen with 24 points each.
FAU's 4-1 record in conference matches the best start by any Owls' squad five games into an A-Sun schedule. That mark was also accomplished in 1996-97, 1997-98 and 2003-04.
FAU is back in action on Monday, Jan. 9 at 7:00 p.m., hosting A-Sun foe Stetson at FAU Arena.