Men’s basketball: FAU’s Gerdarious Troutman’s 20 points not enough in second straight loss
The Owls have lost two games in their Hawaii trip with one left to go.
Sophomore guard Nick Rutherford made all eight of his foul shots in the Owls loss to SIU Edwardsville on Sunday night. Mohammed Emran | Staff Photographer
November 13, 2016
Florida Atlantic junior Gerdarious Troutman had his coming-out game in the Owls 77-68 loss to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Sunday night in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The first-year Owl led the team with 20 points — more than double the total of the team’s leading scorer in the season opener. He made 6-of-11 three-point attempts on the evening.
The Cougars (2-0) threatened to pull away early on multiple occasions, jumping out to a 21-9 lead with 11:37 in the first half and re-extending it to seven after the Owls (0-2) shortened the deficit. But Troutman kept the Owls within a manageable deficit and made three 3-pointers in less than two minutes.
FAU found itself in a 16-point deficit with 7:45 remaining in the game and down 13 with less than three minutes. The team clawed back, but never came within seven points, losing its second straight game to open the season.
Sophomore Nick Rutherford assisted on all three of Troutman’s consecutive 3-pointers. He finished the game with six assists and 14 points on 3-of-12 shooting, but did manage to go a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.
FAU as a whole continued its scoring struggles, making only 33.3 percent of its shots for the second straight game. Its opponent on the other hand, made 43.6 percent of its shots and 57.1 percent from three.
Not only did the Cougars outshoot the Owls from the field, but they also did a better job at getting to the foul line. SIUE made more free throws than FAU attempted, going 25-of-37 and 15-of-21 respectively.
The Owls were able to force twice as many turnovers as its opponent, which was one of their goals entering the season.
Junior center Ronald Delph added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
The Owls will try to make sure that their trip to paradise doesn’t turn into one of disappointment on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 4:15 a.m. Eastern Standard Time when they take on Hawaii in their last game of the Hawaii Rainbow Classic.
Brendan Feeney is the sports editor of the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @feeney42.
