After a 10-day game break, the FAU men’s basketball team picked up a win against High Point University on Saturday, thanks to 17 points from sophomore 4-6 Karlis Silins, 16 points from sophomore Michael Forrest (4-6 3PT) and 12 points for junior Richardson Maitre.

Head coach Dusty May was concerned with “being a little rusty” after 10 days without playing, but the Owls won 81-64 against the Panthers.

In the first half of Saturday’s showdown with the Panthers, the Owls looked sluggish. Missed opportunities and foul trouble had FAU with only a ten-point lead going into halftime.

Then, the veterans took over.

“I thought our guys came in with a great mindset,” May said.

Despite all of the contributing efforts from other Owls, the star of the game was Jailyn Ingram. December 19th, 2018, Ingram tore his ACL, prematurely ending his season. On Saturday, Ingram led all scorers with 19 points, while tacking on six rebounds and a collection of highlight plays, including an alley-oop slam that brought the crowd to their feet.

“Physically, I’m almost 100 percent. Mentally, almost 100 as well,” Ingram said. “There are still road bumps, but I know that it’ll all come back over time.

The Owls forced 18 turnovers and scored 24 points off of those turnovers. And FAU had their least amount of turnovers all season: just seven. 

“During our break, we talked a lot about limiting turnovers and execution, and that came to fruition today,” Ingram said.

Saturday’s game was a relief for the Owls, as their last three games came down to the last shot. However, it was that veteran presence that helped open up the Owls’ lead, and got them to six wins and four losses on the season.

“If I lead by example, I lead on and off the court, they’ll follow,” Ingram said.

The Owls will play again on Dec. 19 in the Burrow against the University of Tampa Spartans at 7 p.m.

Joseph Acosta is a contributing writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @acosta32_jp.