Florida Atlantic men’s basketball struggled to replace recently released C.J. Turman in its 68-54 loss to the Hofstra Pride on Tuesday night, extending their losing streak to five games.

Without Turman — who was leading the team in points and rebounds at the time of his dismissal — the Owls (2-10) had no answer to stop Hofstra’s control of the paint. Hofstra (7-4) out rebounded FAU in the game, 47-28. They also recorded 13 more offensive rebounds than the Owls, resulting in 17 second-chance points, compared to the Owls’ seven.

Along with their rebounding troubles, FAU struggled to score the ball, shooting 35 percent from the field during the game. Freshman forward Jeantal Cylla — who received the first start of his collegiate career — missed all eight of his shot attempts from the floor. Fellow freshman guard Nick Rutherford also failed to convert on any of his seven field-goal attempts in the game.

Cylla finished the game with two points, while Rutherford registered a single point.

Senior guard Jackson Trapp led the Owls with 14 points, making 4-of-6 shots from behind the three-point arc.

With a little fewer than three minutes left in the first half, Florida Atlantic trailed by only two points before Hofstra went on an 11-2 run to close out the half, giving them a 34-23 halftime lead. The Pride continued their momentum with another 11-2 run to open the second half, raising their lead to 20.

Senior guard Ameen Tanksley — who entered the game averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game — made two 3-pointers, igniting Hofstra’s first half run. He finished the contest with a game-high 20 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Tanksley also recorded 11 rebounds on the night.

Tanksley had plenty of help in the game, as he was one of three Pride to reach double-figures in scoring. Fellow senior guard Juan’ya Green added 19 points, while junior guard Brian Bernardi contributed with 10 of his own.

The Owls will have a week off before hosting Tennessee-Martin on Tuesday, Dec. 29, at noon. It will be their first home game since Dec. 10.

Brendan Feeney is a contributing writer for the University Press. To contact him on this or other stories, he can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.