FAU men’s basketball (3-2) played the second of their three games in the Paradise Classic Saturday evening against the University of North Dakota (2-2), coming away with the 98-79 victory over the Fighting Hawks in the Burrow at Abessinio Court.

Even though the Owls started the game scoring the first seven points, North Dakota got back in it as both teams tightly competed against one another for the entire period.

To enter halftime, junior guard Michael Forrest stole the ball, went on the fastbreak, and coasted for the easy layup to have FAU up 45-42. Forrest led the team with 10 points to enter the break.

While North Dakota had the edge in overall shooting and three-point shooting of 53.3% and 60% respectively, FAU won the advantage in being more aggressive. The team drew more fouls getting to the basket as they got to the free-throw line nine times compared to just one from the Fighting Hawks.

Forrest kept up his momentum to start the second half, making back-to-back three-pointers in a 15-2 run from FAU to have them up 60-44 over three minutes in. 

From that point on, the Owls continued their rampant offense for the rest of the half, outscoring the Fighting Hawks 38-35. The Owls’ biggest lead was 19 points with 5:15 remaining.

Forrest finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-11 shooting from the field. After him, four other Owls scored in double-digits: Sophomore guard Bryan Greenlee with 14, graduate guard Everett Winchester and freshman forward Giancarlo Rosado had 11 each, and freshman guard Alijah Martin with 10.

For the Fighting Hawks, junior guard Caleb Nero led them with 23 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Sophomore guard Matt Norman and freshman guard Paul Bruns contributed with 11 points each while junior forward Brendan Howard finished with 10 points.

The Owls will conclude the Paradise Classic on Monday, Nov. 22 at 7 p.m. against Troy University in the Burrow at Abessinio Court. The game 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.