T

he saying, “offense sells tickets, defense wins games,” was brought to life as Florida Atlantic men’s basketball bounced back from its 20-point loss in Miami on Dec. 16 with a 20-point win against Webber International University on Wednesday night at FAU’s Boca Raton campus.

The Owls (4-6) forced 13 turnovers while also recording 16 offensive rebounds as well as 20 total assists in their 77-57 victory.

They consistently moved the ball across the floor, giving themselves better opportunities to drive to the basket and get open. The team made 42.6 percent of its shots and scored one-third of its points in the paint.

The play that set up FAU’s high first-half energy was made by senior guard Adonis Filer who threw a sudden pass to junior forward William Pfister.

Pfister’s basket followed a steal and gave FAU a double-digit lead of 29-19. The home crowd cheered with enthusiasm for the Owls to keep up their pace.

“We played good defense the whole time. We were able to score,” head coach Michael Curry said. “With Marcus Neely on the court more in the second half, he is our strongest defender. In a game like this, it’s about having your best defensive unit on the court, if you do that, you will be able to score.”

With the high energy that the Owls had, Webber turned the ball over 13 times and shot 40.9 percent. FAU appeared to keep its composure, yet Curry said his team has to get in the mindset of playing with more discipline.

Despite this, however, the Owls were still able to force Webber into taking tough shots late into the shot clock, leading to 26 defensive rebounds.

In the second half, the Owls scored 39 points. Junior guard Justin Massey kept up the high energy and totalled a team-high of 15 points.

Filer finished with 14 points.

The Owls will have a week off before they host Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m.

Monica Sherman is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].