The night of Feb. 8 was an explosive one in the Burrow as the Florida Atlantic Owls (9-15) defeated the University of Alabama at Birmingham (14-9) by a score of 82-71, handing the Blazers their third straight conference loss.
Senior guard Pablo Bertone scored seven of the first nine points for the Owls and went on to score 14 points in the first half. Even so, the game didn’t start off particularly well for the home team. After a four minute scoring drought, the Owls found themselves down 21-13 with 8:15 remaining in the half. Even after consecutive three-point baskets by freshman guard D’Andre Johnson, the Owls went into halftime down 38-32.
As the second half began, it was clear the Owls were re-energized. Highlight worthy passes from Johnson, fast break scores from guards Bertone and Marquan Botley, and a clutch pair of free throws from forward Kelvin Penn all quickly resulted in the Owls snatching the lead. With just under 11 minutes remaining, the score stood at 52-50.
Just under the nine minute mark, UAB took a 54-52 lead — a short lived one. An offensive outburst from Bertone resulted in 12 straight points and the Owls took the lead once again at 64-59 with just under five minutes remaining. Bertone finished the night with a career-high of 34 points.
The first basket from Botley came with just 2:23 remaining. The long range three-pointer gave the Owls a 72-63 advantage and Botley went on to score 11 points before the last buzzer. He achieved a career high eight rebounds and eight assists.
A layup by Botley, that stemmed from a steal by Bertone on the other end, made the score 76-68 in favor of the Owls with 44 seconds to play. FAU won the game by a final score of 82-71.
Regarding his historic night, Bertone felt he owed a lot of his success to his team.
“We win as a team,” Bertone said. “Everybody played well and contributed, especially in the second half. We were down and everybody stepped up. Everybody played a great game, really huge.”
Head coach Mike Jarvis gave Bertone a bit more credit.
“What I saw was a very cool, calm, collective player who didn’t force anything,” he said.
The absence of forward Javier Lacunza (shoulder) and center Dragan Sekelja (back) against a larger UAB team was definitely noticeable, and it is something Jarvis admits that he is concerned about as the season wears on.
“Am I worried? Sure,” he said. “The other thing is, tonight we had another player who played very limited minutes because of an injury and that is Jackson Trapp.
Jarvis then went on to explain that Trapp injured his ankle in the Feb. 7 loss versus Middle Tennessee State. He also lauded D’Andre Johnson for playing well because it allowed Trapp to play limited minutes.
The Owls now head to El Paso, Texas to take on the UTEP Miners (18-6) in a conference game on Feb. 13.
Ashley Moss is a contributor to the University Press. She can be reached at [email protected].
