Owls Win Boca Raton MegaBowl Over Bryant

Thursday, November 17

Boca Raton, Fla.

7 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-31,00 CUSA

Bryant

2-1,0-0America East

Bryant

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: JC Ridley/Owlpix.com

11/17/2022 10:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team topped Bryant in the 2022 Boca Raton MegaBowl on Thursday night. The Owls grinded out an 85-74 victory over the Bulldogs to improve to 3-1 on the young season.

Three minutes into the second half, the game was tied 51-51, but FAU grabbed command with a 16-2 run. Back-to-back buckets from Tre Carroll, who provided a huge spark off the bench with a career-high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, stretched the lead to 60-51 with 9:56 to play. A jumper from Michael Forrest and a 3-pointer from Bryan Greenlee capped off the run and gave the Owls a 67-53 edge.

Bryant, who won the American East last year and qualified for the NCAA Tournament, battled back and shrunk the lead to as few as 72-70 with 3:43 to play, yet FAU ended strong with a 13-4 stretch to end it. A pair of free throws each from Vladislav Goldin and Forrest bumped it to 76-70, then after a Bryant bucket, Alijah Martin hit the dagger 3-pointer to put FAU up by seven with 1:35 remaining.

Quotes From Coach May

"I thought our guards did a nice job against the press tonight," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "We were able to advance it off the pass and had a lot of two-on-ones. I thought our plan was much better in the second half, our guys were very strong with the basketball. They were able to get out of some tough double teams and make better decisions."

"I think it's because we have a lot of really good players," May said when asked about the depth of his team, with FAU's bench outscoring Bryant's by a wide 45-9 margin. "We have great parity and great depth. Tre Carroll has a great feel with the ball in his hands, he made great decisions, but he stayed ready. I thought Brandon Weatherspoon brought great energy, and Giancarlo Rosado did some good things off the bench. We're very pleased that we found a way to win, we didn't get tight, we stretched the lead out but then they came storming back - Bryant is a very good basketball team. They are well-coached, tough and gritty. We made the plays down the stretch that we needed to in order to win."

Stats & Notes

In the second half, the Owls' defense put the clamps on a talented Bryant offense who led the nation in scoring with an average of 118 points per game heading into tonight. FAU held the Bulldogs to 36.3% shooting from the floor and 27.2% shooting from 3-point range
FAU's active defense forced 21 turnovers from Bryant, which led to a 20-4 points off turnovers margin in favor of the Owls
Martin paced the Owls with a team-high 15 points, which marks his third straight game in double figures. He was also FAU's leading rebounder with nine boards
Greenlee scored a season-high 14 points and knocked down three 3-pointers
Forrest added 14 points and four assists off the bench and went 7-of-8 from the free throw line
Jalen Gaffney had a productive night, with nine points, five boards and four assists off the bench

Paradise Invitational Continues Saturday

The Owls will return to the court for their last game of the Paradise Invitational to face Detroit Mercy on Saturday, Nov. 19. Detroit Mercy and Bryant will play in the neutral site game on Monday at noon.

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To stay up to date on all things FAU men's basketball, follow the Owls on social media @FAUMBB.