Owls Drop Nailbiter to FIU 79-76

Saturday, February 23

4 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-1612, 78 CUSA

FIU

-1711, 87 CUSA

FIUM

Florida Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

2/23/2019 8:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. - (Feb. 23, 2019) – For the second time this season, the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team suffered a close home loss at the hands of its rival, falling 79-76 to FIU on Saturday. The Owls are now 16-12 on the year and 7-8 in Conference USA play.

The Start

FAU got off to a slow start on the offensive end, allowing the Panthers (17-11, 8-7) to build an early double-digit lead. The Owls trailed by as many as 16 in the first half before a modest rally trimmed the deficit to 12 at the half.

The Turning Point

The Owls came out of the locker room and immediately began chipping away even further at the Panthers' cushion. Anthony Adger completed a 21-6 FAU run by converting a three-point play that gave FAU its first lead of the day, 45-44, with just under 12 minutes left in the game.

The Finish

FAU led by eight, 63-55, at the 6:04 mark, but missed a pair of free throws. The Panthers grabbed the rebound and immediately hit a three-pointer that cut the lead to five. That began what ended up being a 12-0 FIU run, resulting in a 70-66 Panthers' edge with three and a half minutes to go. Adger pulled the Owls to within one after making three free throws, but FIU answered with a triple of its own. Karlis Silins a three to make the score 75-73 with nine seconds left, but the Owls couldn't get any closer.

Notables

· Anthony Adger and Xavian Stapleton tied for the team high with 15 points each. Karlis Silins scored 13 off the bench

· Adger also had five rebounds, four assists and two steals, Stapleton posted two rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Silins grabbed five boards, dished out an assist and blocked a shot

· The Owls scored 50 points in the second half, just the second time this season they have scored that many in a half (58, second half vs. Florida Tech)

· Madiaw Niang pulled down 10 rebounds and scored six points in just 16 minutes of action

· As a team, the Owls outrebounded FIU 48-43

· Adger hit his 83^rd three-pointer of the season, passing Earnest Crumbley for fifth most made in a season by a FAU player

· FAU converted nine triples as a team, extending its school record to 253 on the year

Coach May Postgame

Looking Ahead

FAU travels to North Texas on Thursday night to play the Mean Green. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. Eastern and the game will be streamed on ESPN+. Live audio can be heard on ESPN 106.3 FM.

Tickets

For tickets, call 1-866-FAU-OWLS or visit FAUSports.com.

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