Owls Outlast LA Tech in Overtime for 24th Win

Saturday, February 11

Boca Raton, Fla.

2 p.m.

Florida Atlantic

-242,141 CUSA

Louisiana Tech

-1312,68 CUSA

OT 1

Louisiana Tech

Fla. Atlantic

Photo by: Mauricio Paiz

2/11/2023 5:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

BOCA RATON, Fla. – Once again, the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team found a way to win. The Owls outlasted Louisiana Tech in overtime, 90-85, in a nail-biter of a game on Saturday.

FAU continues its incredible run in the 2022-23 season, improving to 24-2 and 14-1 in Conference USA action. The Owls' latest win also pushes their winning streak at home to 16 games, dating back to the last game of last season. That streak is tied for the third-longest active home one in the nation.

The Owls went on a big 16-0 run, capped off by a Bryan Greenlee 3-pointer, to go up 65-50 in the second half, but the Bulldogs climbed back to tie it 76-76 with 33 seconds left to go. Johnell Davis had a good look from 3-pointer to beat the buzzer in regulation, but it did not fall, and the Owls went into only their second overtime game of the season.

In the extra session, Alijah Martin continued his dominant performance, knocking down back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Owls ahead, 84-79. LA Tech got a 3-pointer to make it 84-81, but Greenlee knocked down a free throw to push the lead back to four. FAU got the big stop on the other end, then two free throws from Davis put it out of reach, 86-81.

Quotes From Coach May

"Credit to LA Tech," FAU head coach Dusty May said. "I thought LA Tech played really well. Their elite guys stepped up and made plays, our guys stepped up and made plays as well. Not our best performance defensively, we made some errors, missed a few block outs, we were loose with our communication. Our defensive decision making wasn't nearly as crisp as it normally is. We've been on the wrong end of a lot of these the last few years: really close games that come down to the last couple of possessions. We're just fortunate that we have guys who can go make plays and make big shots."

Stats & Notes

The Owls overcame an early first half deficit of 10 points, tied for their largest comeback of the season with the Nov. 14 victory against Florida
This was FAU's second game of the season that went into overtime, first being the FIU game on Jan. 11. FAU is now 2-0 on overtime games
Martin's 26 points was the second-highest for an Owl this season. The shots did not stop falling for Martin, shooting 7-10 overall and 6-8 from downtown
Martin's six three pointers in the game was also the most by an FAU player this season
Vladislav Goldin continued the best offensive streak of his career, coming out of the game firing with 13 points in the first eight minutes. He finished the night with 17 points overall
FAU won the assist battle 18-8. The Owls have now out-assisted their opponent in 23 of 26 games
Jalen Gaffney led the way in assists with seven, tied for the most by an Owl this season
Davis impressed as usual, dropping 19 points off of the bench and a team-high three steals
FAU took every advantage of their 13 offensive rebounds, scoring 26 total second chance points