Men’s Basketball Eclipses Last Season’s Win Total with 69-61 Victory over Louisiana Tech

Thursday, January 31

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-139, 45 CUSA

La Tech

-158, 55 CUSA

TECH

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

Men’s Basketball Eclipses Last Season’s Win Total with 69-61 Victory over Louisiana Tech

2/1/2019 12:11:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team defeated Louisiana Tech 69-61 on Thursday night. Karlis Silins posted his first career double-double, with Xavian Stapleton and Anthony Adger just missing double-doubles of their own. The win improved FAU's record to 13-9 overall and 4-5 in Conference USA.

The Start

Both teams struggled out of the gate, with neither side able to find their offensive rhythm early. Eventually, the Owls broke out with 12 unanswered points and led 18-10 eight minutes into the game. FAU's lead was five, 28-23, at the break.

The Turning Point

The Owls maintained a decent cushion early in the second half, but the Bulldogs (15-8, 5-5) gradually chipped away at the margin and a DaQuan Bracey jumper trimmed the FAU lead to one, 57-56, with just under three minutes left.

The Finish

FAU responded with seven straight points, with Adger having a hand in five of them, to stretch the advantage back out to eight. The Owls clamped down defensively as well, allowing only one field goal after Bracey's bucket. FAU made five of its six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Notables

· FAU surpassed last season's win total and now has its most overall wins since the 2012-13 season, when it was still a member of the Sun Belt Conference

· Xavian Stapleton led all scorers with 19 points, and had nine rebounds against his former school

· Anthony Adger scored all 14 of his points in the second half to go along with eight rebounds and five assists

· Karlis Silins posted 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his first double-double in just 18 minutes of action

· Michael Forrest tallied 11 points, giving the Owls four players in double figures.

Quotable

FAU Head Coach Dusty May

On Xavian Stapleton…

"More than anything else, he came up with some big rebounds in traffic and that's what Xay's capable of…he just made plays. His post-ups were huge, his rebounds were huge, he's evolving into a complete player."

Looking Ahead

Southern Miss comes to FAU Arena on Saturday, Feb. 2 at 4 p.m. The game will be streamed on fausports.com. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM. In-game updates will also be available at twitter.com/FAU_Hoops.