Owls Fall On Late 3-Pointer

Wednesday, November 25

Mobile, Ala.

7 PM ET

Florida Atlantic

-01,00 CUSA

South Alabama

1-0,0-0Sun Belt

Fla. Atlantic

South Alabama

11/25/2020 10:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score FAU-S. Ala. Full Box Score

MOBILE, Ala. -- A furious Florida Atlantic comeback and an extraordinary Owl debut were both dashed by South Alabama's Michael Flowers Wednesday night at the Mitchell Center. Flowers hit a wild, off-balance 3-pointer with a defender all over him just before the buzzer to lift the Jaguars to a 68-66 victory over FAU in both teams' season-opener.

After trailing most of the night, the Owls surged into the lead late in the second half behind sophomore B.J. Greenlee. The newcomer, playing his first game as an Owl, scored a game-high 25 points and buried seven 3-pointers. South Alabama led by 11 at halftime and were up by nine points with 7:33 remaining in the contest. But back-to-back Greenlee 3-pointers, his fifth and sixth of the night, sparked a 13-2 run that just happened to be capped by Greenlee's seventh field goal from long-distance of the night. That outburst left FAU with its first lead since the first two minutes of the game.

The Owls led by three points with 22 seconds left when Kenan Blackshear drove the lane and scooped a layup up and in. South Alabama cut its deficit to one point on a John Pettway bucket with 10 seconds remaining. Blackshear was fouled and went to the line, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Jaguars secured the rebound and got the ball to Flowers. Everett Winchester picked him up and was all over him on the left wing as time was expiring. Flowers, nearly falling out of bounds, tossed up a 3-pointer that went in with 1.1 seconds remaining on the clock to give South Alabama the victory.

"I thought Winchester did a really good job guarding the basketball and forcing a tough, contested shot," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "Unfortunately for us, they made a big play in a very difficult situation. That's sports. They made the play when it counted."

Greenlee's Game

Greenlee was 7-of-10 from 3-point range and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. One of those free throws finished a four-point play after being fouled on a made 3-pointer. He added five assists, a steal, a blocked shot and a pair of rebounds in his first appearance for FAU.

With his five assists, which led to four 3-point field goals and one common field goal, Greenlee was directly or indirectly responsible for 39 of the Owls' 66 points.

"I'm very pleased with B.J. in a lot of areas," May said. "He got the ball anywhere he wanted on the floor. He got guys open looks and good shots and he capitalized himself by making big shots at pivotal times."