South Alabama Holds off Florida Atlantic, 91-74

Saturday, February 16

Mobile, Ala.

8:05 PM

Florida Atlantic

South Alabama

2/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Feb. 16, 2008

Box Score

Mobile, AL - Fueled by a career-high 23 points from Ronald Douglas, South Alabama defeated Florida Atlantic 91-74 Saturday night. The loss snapped a five-game winning-streak for Florida Atlantic (12-15), who trailed by just three at halftime.

South Alabama (21-5) ran its record to 14-0 this season at the Mitchell Center, the site of the upcoming Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament.

Junior guard Carderro Nwoji had 17 points and six assists to pace FAU.

A three-point basket by Sean Alarcon gave FAU an early 17-9 advantage, quieting a raucus crowd of 8,262- the second largest to watch an FAU game this season.

Florida Atlantic shot 56 percent from the floor in the first half, connecting on 6-of-9 shots from three-point range and despite Carlos Monroe, the Sun Belt's leading rebounder and FAU's top scorer, playing just four minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, South Alabama led by just three at the break, 41-38.

Coming into the game averaging just over five points per night, Douglas was 10-of-11 from the field, putting together a performance that included a series of two-handed dunks in the paint. One such slam by Douglas extended the Jaguars' lead to six in the opening stages of the second half.

An uncontested transition basket by South Alabama guard Demetric Bennett pushed the Jaguars' advantage to 13 with just over six minutes on the clock, 73-60.

Paul Graham III and Xavier Perkins provided a second-half spark for the Owls, combining to score eleven points in a three-minute span to keep FAU close, but the Jaguars would not be denied at home.

Florida Atlantic returns to action Wednesday February 20th at the FAU arena, hosting Florida International at 7 p.m.