Owls Turned Back by Middle Tennessee 61-57

Saturday, January 6

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

6-9, 0-3

Middle Tennessee

11-4, 3-0

FAU

1/6/2018 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Jan. 6, 2018

Final Stats

MT-FAU Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. -The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team fell victim to a second half shooting slump in a 61-57 loss to Middle Tennessee on Saturday. The Owls are now 6-9 on the season and 0-3 in Conference USA play.

The Start

FAU got out to a 12-5 lead seven minutes into the game, before the Blue Raiders (11-4, 3-0) rallied to tie the score at 14 just over three minutes later. The two teams took turns with the lead, and sides were even once again, this time at 29-29 with 1:23 left in the first half. At that point, the Owls scored six unanswered points to take a 35-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Finish

There were three ties and five lead changes in the second half. The final tie came at 48-48 with 6:11 remaining in the game. Middle Tennessee went up as many as seven, but the Owls were able to pull to within two with 13 seconds remaining. However, the Blue Raiders made a pair of free throws and FAU was unable to score any further.

Notables

Ronald Delph led all scorers with 17, and also grabbed nine rebounds.
Jailyn Ingram scored 11 points and pulled down six boards.
Gerdarius Troutman added 10 points and two assists.
The Owls shot just 28 percent from the floor in the second half.

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Michael Curry

"(Middle Tennessee) is physical at all positions. They're a little more physical than us, but our guys fought hard."

Looking Ahead

The Owls travel to UTEP on Thursday, January 11. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. ET. Live stats and live video will be available at fausports.com. Live audio will be broadcast on ESPN 106.3 FM. In game updates will also be available at twitter.com/FAU_Hoops.