Owls Pounce on Florida Gulf Coast 85-68

Sunday, November 25

Boca Raton, Fla.

3 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

6-1

Florida Gulf Coast

2-6

FGCU

Florida Atlantic

11/25/2018 7:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Led by a career-high 27 points from Xavian Stapleton, the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team defeated Florida Gulf Coast 85-68 on Sunday. Stapleton became the fourth different Owl to record a 20+ point game this season. With the win, FAU improves to 6-1 on the year.

The Start

The contest was tied at 7-7 early on when the Owls went on a 20-5 run to go up 27-12. The lead ballooned to as many as 21 in the first half, before a FGCU layup made the score 48-29 at the break.

The Turning Point

FGCU (2-6) used a 13-5 run to cut its deficit to 10, 53-43, at the midway point of the second half.

The Finish

A pair of Jailyn Ingram free throws and a Stapleton three-pointer pushed the margin back out to 15 and FAU maintained an advantage of at least 14 points for the rest of the game.

Notables

· Stapleton's 27-point outing was helped by a season-high six made three-pointers by the grad transfer

· Jailyn Ingram tallied 11 points and pulled down a game-high 10 boards for his fourth double-double of the year. Ingram also led the Owls in assists (six) and steals (three)

· Jaylen Sebree came off the bench to score 12 points, dish out three assists and snag two steals. The FAU reserves outscored their FGCU counterparts 29-9

· FAU outrebounded the Eagles 42-27, improving to 6-0 this season when collecting more rebounds than the opposition

· FAU's 48 first half points were its most in a first half this year. For the game, the Owls had as many assists as FGCU had made field goals (23)

· At 6-1, FAU continues its best start to a season at the Division I level

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May

"I really believe in the substance and character of this group and their belief in each other…I still don't think we've played great, our best basketball is still far from now."

Looking Ahead

The Owls travel to Bethune-Cookman on Saturday, Dec. 1. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM. In-game updates will also be available at twitter.com/FAU_Hoops.