The Owls’ brief preseason came to a close on Monday night at the Burrow, and it ended on a positive note as the Owls (1-1) defeated Lynn University, 81-61.
Without the services of guards Ray Taylor and Darren Stewart, who continued to serve their undefined suspensions for violations of team rules, FAU managed to topple the Fighting Knights and never once surrendered the lead.
“It’s always fun to play Lynn because we see those guys all summer playing against them open gym,” said forward Brett Royster. “They like to talk, too, so it always feels good to beat them, especially by double figures.”
Royster contributed to the 20-point victory with a double-double, scoring 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 19-minute performance.
Forward Kore White had a strong outing, scoring a game-high 17 points and grabbing five rebounds. He contributed three steals and two assists.
“Kore has what a lot of our guys still don’t have: He has a great feel for the game,” said head coach Mike Jarvis. “Most big guys can’t pass. He can pass and he can shoot and he’s strong. He’s got the package.
“Kore White is legit. He could play for just about anybody. Not saying he could start for anybody, but there’s no team in the country he couldn’t play on.”
White and Royster helped the Owls to a better defensive display than they did in their preseason opener against Northwood last Thursday. FAU limited Lynn to 40.7% from the field, and grabbed 18 turnovers. Jimmy Gaskin led the Knights in points with 15.
One area that FAU will need to improve on for the regular season is three-point shooting. After a dreadful night of shooting from the perimeter against Northwood, the Owls went 2-12 against the Knights.
Guards Greg Gantt (13 points) and Pablo Bartone (6 points) scored the lone three-pointers for FAU.
“Honestly, I don’t like missing threes, especially wide-open threes like we’ve been missing, but when you look at the guys that are missing them, you know they can make them,” said head coach Mike Jarvis. “I’m not worried about it, but we’ve got to do something about it because we should be shooting much, much better.”
Now the Owls will turn their focus toward the season opener on Friday when they face UC Davis in the first of three matches in three days in the Athletes in Action Classic in Portland, Ore. FAU faces Milwaukee on Saturday and Portland on Sunday.
Jarvis would not reveal whether the bans on Taylor and Stewart would be lifted in time for the season opener, but he did state his goals for opening weekend.
“I’d like to get three wins, but more important than that, I want us to grow as a team and to really, really compete every second of every game,” said Jarvis. “If we do that, we’ll do well on the trip.”
Game notables: Freshman Dennis Mavin struggled for FAU, shooting 0-4 and scoring two points. Royster had a game-high 4 blocks. Owls guard Alex Tucker had six assists to go along with his 13 points.
