Men’s Basketball: Owls fall to the Charlotte 49ers, 74-71

Owls snap three-game winning streak and lose Jailyn Ingram to a hamstring injury.

Eston Parker III

Bryan Greenlee sizes up his opponent in FAU’s 74-71 loss to Charlotte on Jan. 23, 2021. Photo by Eston Parker III.

Courtesy of Owl TV

Colby Guy, Editor-In-Chief

Editor’s note: You can view Owl TV’s accompanying video above this story.

The FAU men’s basketball team (8-7, 3-3 C-USA) falls to the Charlotte 49ers (7-7, 3-3 C-USA) by the score of 74-71 on Saturday night at FAU Arena. This ends the Owls’ three-game winning streak.

Sophomore guard Bryan Greenlee had the ball with 1.6 seconds left with the chance to tie the game for FAU, but he stepped out of bounds, turned the ball over, and ultimately lost the game for the Owls.

The Owls split the weekend series with the 49ers, despite losing head coach Dusty May due to contract tracing, as a member of his family had COVID-19.

Three-point shooting was a struggle for the Owls, as they shot 5-20 from behind the arc, amounting to a 25 percent three-point percentage.

Senior forward Jailyn Ingram left the game with a hamstring injury, not playing a single minute since he went to the locker room with eight minutes to go in the first half.

The Owls missed Ingram’s presence dearly, allowing Charlotte to go on a 7-0 run following his departure from the game, and that ultimately came back to bite the Owls.

FAU was able to go on a 12-2 run to start the second half, but that wasn’t enough to hold off the 49ers.

Charlotte went on a 5-0 run immediately after that and from there, it was a back and forth affair that the Owls couldn’t claw their way back into.

The Owls were within striking distance with less than a minute left in the game, but following a turnover from junior forward Michael Forrest and a layup from Charlotte’s senior guard, Jordan Shepherd, FAU found themselves down five points and couldn’t come back.

Junior forward Karlis Silins led the Owls in scoring with 17 points, adding eight rebounds and an assist.

Forrest and Sophomore guard Kenan Blackshear also had 14 points each, with Blackshear grabbing six boards.

The Owls will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 29 against Marshall. The game will be broadcast on Stadium.

Colby Guy is the Editor-In-Chief for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @thatguycolbs