FAU’s men’s basketball team (6-6, 1-2 C-USA) finally got their first win in Conference USA play after beating the FIU Panthers (8-5, 2-3 C-USA) 81-79.

Two stories were told in the first half, with the first having FAU go on a good start. The Owls outscored FIU early in the half, going up as much as 12 points with 9:18 left. The first five points for the Owls came from junior guard Michael Forrest.

After that, the second story revealed itself with FIU taking over from there. The Panthers went on a 22-8 run to end the half up 31-29. Both teams shot under 40 percent from the field, while FIU had the advantage in three-point shooting, making five threes in 10 attempts.

“We stopped trying to hit home runs and just started hitting singles and doubles and then got into our playmakers in space with some movements, and we looked a lot better offensively,“ head coach Dusty May said. “We tried to go against a set static defense, and we weren’t very good.”

The second half consisted of both teams going back-and-forth with making shots. Many lead changes occurred, with 12 of them happening as a result.

Despite FIU’s efforts to take back the lead, FAU held them off with senior forward Jailyn Ingram, senior guard Everett Winchester, and sophomore guard Bryan Greenlee taking care of things down the stretch. Winchester and Greenlee made the free-throws that sealed the win for the Owls.

Ingram finished with a game-high 24 points on 10-18 shooting, including nine rebounds and three assists. Forrest and Greenlee contributed with 11 points each, while Winchester had 10 and nine rebounds off the bench.

“We use him [Ingram] as a screener, as a decoy, as a scorer, as a go-to guy because he is a unique and special offensive talent,” May said.

FIU’s best players in this game were redshirt senior forward Radshad Davis, junior guard Antonio Daye, Jr., redshirt junior guard Tevin Brewer, and sophomore guard Javaunte Hawkins. Davis scored a team-high 16 points, while Daye, Jr. had 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Brewer contributed with 14 points and six assists, and Hawkins made all four of his three-point attempts off the bench, finishing with 12 points.

May admits that they will need to have a few different tactics for the next time they play FIU.

“We’re gonna have to have a few different cards in our pocket as well, and unfortunately, we threw a couple out tonight. They [FIU] made very difficult shots, so we have to continue to do what we did well, and then just clean up a few things.

The Owls will finish their back-to-back against FIU in the Burrow on Jan. 16 at 4 p.m. It will be broadcast on C-USA TV.

Richard Pereira is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.