Florida Atlantic men’s basketball team could not capitalize on scoring opportunities, causing the team to receive its first home loss of the season to Hofstra University 88-80 on Saturday night.

FAU (2-5) has had a slow start to the season, beginning with a three-game losing streak in Honolulu, Hawaii.  In the Owls last game, they lost to the University of Tennessee at Martin on by a buzzer-beater 82-81.

When they came home in between the four losses, the Owls had better luck and earned their first wins of the season. Playing at FAU Arena appeared to be the team’s strong suit, until tonight when it suffered its fifth loss of the season.

When FAU met Hofstra (6-3) last December in New Jersey, the Pride took a 68-54 victory. Tonight, in the Owls chance at redemption, they fell eight points short.

FAU ended the first half trailing 37-31, but came into the second half strong and tied the game with 18:31 remaining.

FAU held a 72-69 advantage with five minutes remaining and put a lot of pressure on the strong-side corner, which ultimately led to open three-point shots for Hofstra. The Pride made 13-of-28 3-pointers.

The addition of late foul calls proved too much for the Owls to overcome.

FAU head coach Michael Curry attributed this to his team’s poor job at controlling the basketball. He also noted a lack of physicality in his team.

Curry said he told his team before the game about the physicality to expect from Hofstra.

“I was upset that Hofstra came in and was more physical than us,” Curry said postgame.

He continued to comment on his team’s physicality throughout the press conference.

Freshman Jailyn Ingram continued to shine in the loss. He scored 19 points, leading his team for the third straight game.

The Owls will take on Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m.

Elyscia Saint-Hilaire is a contributing writer with the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her at @elyscia_saint18.