Owls Turn Back Florida College 76-64

Wednesday, December 19

Boca Raton, Fla.

5:30 P.M.

Florida Atlantic

8-3

Florida College

7-4

Florida College

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

12/19/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Senior forward Simeon Lepichev scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team to a 76-64 win over Florida College on Wednesday. The Owls improved to 8-3 on the season, including a perfect 5-0 record at home.

The Start

FAU blitzed the Falcons early, taking a 23-7 lead less than nine minutes into the contest. Five different Owls scored during that time. The margin was 18 late in the first half, before the Falcons scored the last five points of the frame to trim their deficit to 36-23 at the break.

The Turning Point

The Owls started the second half on a 15-7 run to stretch their advantage to 21, 51-30, at the 12:36 mark. A few minutes later, a Cedric Jackson three capped a streak of eight unanswered FAU points to make the score 63-35.

The Finish

FAU maintained a comfortable advantage the rest of the way, although Florida College scored the last 10 points of the game to account for the final score.

Notables

· In addition to his 20 points, Lepichev also pulled down a career-high nine rebounds. He is the sixth different Owl to record a 20-point game so far this year

· Anthony Adger registered 14 points and eight boards, a career best in rebounds for the senior

· Cedric Jackson came off the bench to score a career-high 13 points

· Madiaw Niang tallied five points and nine rebounds

· Michael Forrest and Aleksandar Zecevic each posted nine points. Forrest also dished out four assists and nabbed four steals, while Zecevic grabbed six rebounds.

· FAU has started the season 5-0 at home for the first time since the 2014-15 season. Dating back to last year, the Owls have won six in a row at home for the first time since 2010-11.

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May

On Simeon Lepichev…

"His confidence is growing by the day…He demanded the ball, he wanted it. I thought offensively he played a really good game."

Looking Ahead

The Owls kick off a four-game road trip at the University of Miami on Saturday, Dec. 22. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. The game will air on ACC Network Extra. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM. In-game updates will also be available at twitter.com/FAU_Hoops.