UTEP Tops Owls On Late Tip-In

Thursday, January 27

El Paso, Texas

9 PM

Florida Atlantic

-119,43 CUSA

UTEP

-128,53 CUSA

Fla. Atlantic

UTEP

1/28/2022 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score FAU-UTEP Box Score (PDF)

EL PASO, Texas (FAUSports.com) – A tip-in at the buzzer lifted the UTEP Miners over the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team Thursday night at the Don Haskins Center. Alfred Hollins tipped in a missed 3-pointer less than a second before the buzzer sounded, giving UTEP (12-8, 5-3 CUSA) a 70-68 victory.

FAU (11-9, 4-3 CUSA) had an opportunity to take the lead just prior to Hollins' game-winning tip-in. With the game tied at 68-68, Alijah Martin put up a 10-foot jumper in the lane that was just short, setting up UTEP's last-second victory.

"The majority of the time, these games come down to a rebound," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "We missed a couple (rebounds) in the second half and that's what we talked about in the locker room. Wining is extremely hard and all those plays add up throughout the course of a game and come back to bite you if you're not able to put some distance between yourself and the opponent."

FAU got a career-best 19 points from freshman center Vlad Goldin. Alijah Martin scored in double digits for the 10^th straight game, tallying 16 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Michael Forrest added 12 points for the Owls. Souley Boum paced all scorers for the Miners, tallying 28 pionts on 10-of-18 shooting, including 5-of-8 from 3-point range.

Boum and the Miners were in charge early, as he scored seven points in the opening minutes while the Miners built a 10-point lead, 13-3. But the Owls fought back. UTEP was still on top by 10 midway through the second half, when FAU started heating up on offense.

"We need to figure out a way to get some better starts," May said. "Effort wasn't the issue. We had a couple mental lapses. Credit UTEP. Those guards made some plays."
The Owls outscored the Miners 25-10 over the next nine minutes and held a 5-point edge late in the first half. Boum wasn't done in the first half, though, hitting a triple to pull his team back within two. At halftime, FAU held a 38-36 edge.

There were nine lead changes and five ties in the second half. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half. Martin almost singlehandedly kept FAU in it late in the ball game. His 3-pointer with five minutes remaining gave the Owls a 66-64 lead. UTEP's Tydus Verhoeven scored two minutes later to tie it and Boum put the Miners on top with a steal and score at the 2:24 mark. Martin then struck again for the Owls. He hit a driving runner with just over a minute remaining to tie the score and set up the final dramatic seconds.

"Wining on the road is difficult. Everyone says it," May said. "We just have to continue fighting, clawing and stay together and figure out a way to be one possession better."

FAU is back in action again Saturday afternoon, traveling to San Antonio for a contest with UTSA. Tipoff is slated for 1 p.m. CT/2 p.m. ET.