Offense Clicks as Owls Top West Division Leaders

Saturday, January 13

Boca Raton, Fla.

7:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

ULM

1/13/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Jan. 13, 2007

Box Score

BOCA RATON, FL - DeAndre Rice, Paul Graham and Carlos Monroe all hit big buckets down the stretch and helped the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team come away with a 73-62 win against Louisiana-Monroe at FAU Arena on Saturday.

All three players came up with clutch three-point plays down the stretch in a game that was tight down the stretch after the Owls held an eight-point halftime lead.

"Everyone contributed tonight," Head Coach Rex Walters said. "I'm very proud of our guys. When we needed a big play someone stepped up to make it."

In a revamped starting lineup, Monroe finished with a game-high 19 points and nine rebounds, while Jeff Parmer went 8-for-10 from the floor and finished with 18 points and seven boards. Graham and Rice finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Jonas Brown led ULM with 17 points.

The game featured solid defense early, including three charges in the game's first four minutes. The strong defense forced some sloppy play on offense as well, as the two teams combined for 15 turnovers in the game's first 10 minutes.

The teams traded baskets until the nine minute mark, when FAU went on a 10-0 run. Rice hit a layup to tie the game at 15 with nine minutes to go. Parmer made a layup ten seconds later to give the Owls a two point lead, and Sean Alarcon hit a three at the 7:50 mark to push the lead to five, 20-15. Parmer converted an and-one opportunity to give FAU the eight-point margin, 23-15, with 6:49 remaining in the first half.

The Owls would push the lead to 13 at the 3:15 mark, 35-22, on a layup by Graham, but the Warhawks would end the half on a 5-0 sprint to produce the halftime margin, 35-27.

Parmer led the Owls at the break with nine points. Monroe added eight and a game-high six rebounds. Graham had seven at the midway point.

Brown led the Warhawks with a game-high 10 points at the break. FAU shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) in the first half, while the Warhawks shot 37.9 (11-for-29) percent.

The Warhawks had trimmed the lead to three, 44-41, at the 12-minute mark of the second-half on a pair of free throws by Lance Brasher and would tie the game at 44 on a triple by Brown on their next possession.

The game was tied once again at 49 with 7:19 left when Brasher hit a pair of free throws to give ULM a two point lead. With the game tied back up at 53, Monroe hit a jumper over a double-team at the 5:30 mark to give FAU a two-point lead. ULM would answer with an offensive rebound and put-back, but Rice was clutch once again, answering with an and-one of his own to give Florida Atlantic a three-point lead, 58-55, with less than five minutes remaining.

Graham hit a three to give FAU a six-point lead, but ULM's James Perkins hit a three to answer and cut the lead in half. Monroe would convert an and-one on a layup to push the lead back to six, 66-60 with under three minutes remaining.

Monroe would get fouled on a fastbreak layup following his own block at the other end and convert the free-throw attempt to put FAU up by nine, 69-60, with 1:15 on the clock. A pair of free throws by Rice would increase the lead to 11 and put the Owls up for good.

The Owls (8-9, 4-3 SBC) will head to Denver and North Texas next week as they look to build off the momentum created by beating ULM, the surprise team in the Sun Belt mid-way through the season.

The Warhawks (11-8, 5-2 SBC) shot 40.4 percent from the floor while the Owls shot 58.0 percent. FAU won the battle of the boards, 33-29.

NOTES: Head Coach Rex Walters announced before the game that Xavier Perkins and Sanchez Hughley will both redshirt this season.