Ingram Leads Owls To Rivalry Victory

Thursday, January 14

Miami, Fla.

7 30 PM

Florida Atlantic

-66,12 CUSA

FIU

-85,23 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

FIU

1/14/2021 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score FAU-FIU Full Box Score

MIAMI – Jailyn Ingram scored 24 points and the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team made five free throws in the final minute as the Owls defeated Florida International University Thursday night at the Ocean Bank Convention Center.

It was the sixth time this season for Ingram to reach the 20-point plateau. Thursday's effort lifted his team to a rivalry victory over the Panthers. Ingram scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half. Three other Owls were also in double figures, as Bryan Greenlee and Michael Forrest added 11 apiece and Everett Winchester matched his career-best with 10 points and a career-best nine rebounds.

Winchester hit four of the free throws down the stretch to help FAU put the game on ice. His final free throw came with five seconds left and put the Owls up by two points with five seconds remaining. Florida International had an opportunity to win it with a 3-pointer at the buzzer, but the Panthers' rushed long-range bomb didn't even draw iron.

FIU led early in the second half 36-31. But the Owls answered with an 8-0 spurt, capped by a Winchester fast-break layup. From there, neither team could really take control. There were seven ties and four lead changes over the next 12 minutes with neither team leading by more than five points.

An Ingram bucket with just more than four minutes remaining finally put the Owls on top for good, although they needed to hang on through the final shot at the buzzer.

FAU led by 12 midway through the first half. The Owls took a 21-9 lead on a Jailyn Ingram put-back basket. But the Panthers outscored FAU 16-5 over the next five minutes to tie things up at 25-25. FIU finally took its first lead of the contest with five seconds remaining in the half on an Antonio Daye Jr. bucket.

The Owls doubled up FIU on the boards, grabbing 46 rebounds to the Panthers' 23. FAU secured 17 offensive rebounds, including six from Winchester, four each from Ingram and Nicholas Boyd. The Owls enjoyed a 22-4 advantage in second-chance points.

The victory evens FAU's overall record at 6-6, while they moved to 1-2 in Conference USA action. FIU dropped to 8-5 overall and 2-3 in C-USA.

Quoting Coach May

FAU Head Coach Dusty May
On the victory: "It was a tale of two halves. In the first half, I thought we did a great job defensively. Other than a few lapses where we got too excited and tried to do too much on the offensive end, we played very, very good basketball for about 12 minutes. I think every big basket we had was off an offensive rebound or a tip-out, something where we were battling using our competitive advantage."

On Jailyn Ingram: "He is balling right now. I said pregame, the only thing I was a little disappointed in Jailyn … was the offensive rebounds and he goes and gets four huge ones tonight. I think they all led to baskets. He was great. We've got to find a way to continue getting him the ball in space, at his spots where he is comfortable. If we can give him the ball in space, he's a tough matchup for bigs, he's a tough matchup for guards."

On Tap

The Panthers and Owls will match up again Saturday afternoon at The Burrow. Tipoff at FAU Arena is set for 4 p.m.