The FAU Owls (13-9, 6-3 C-USA) beat the Louisiana Tech (LA Tech) Bulldogs (16-6, 7-3 C-USA) 83-73 in a conference matchup Thursday night in the Burrow at Abessinio Court. The upset win marks the second straight conference win for the Owls. The Bulldogs were 2.5-point favorites heading into the game.

“We competed at a high level, we outrebounded them, and we did a good job defending the three,” head coach Dusty May said. “The last three or four minutes it got loose a little bit, but we got a lot of contributions from our guys and beat a very good basketball team and an established program.”

FAU came out firing on all cylinders as graduate guard Everett Winchester made a three-pointer on the game’s opening possession. The Owls continued to execute on offense and took a commanding 37-17 lead when freshman forward Giancarlo Rosado drew a foul and went one-for-two from the free-throw line with 7:15 left in the first half. 

A dominant first half performance by freshman guard Alijah Martin helped push the Owls’ lead to 44-30 going into halftime. Martin was the Owls’ scoring leader at halftime with 17 points and shot 87.5% from the field and had two rebounds. 

“I’m satisfied, but I’m not satisfied,” Martin said postgame about his personal development. “I’m just trying to do what I can to help the team continue to get wins and play at a high level.”

LA Tech made up some ground in the second half, shrinking the FAU lead to 55-49 with 10:46 left. However, the Bulldogs could not find a way to slow down FAU’s offense, as the Owls had grown their lead back to 64-53 by the five-minute mark in the second half.

“Rewind back to UTSA and UTEP, they came out in the second half and tried to punch us in the mouth,” May said. “[LA Tech] took that blueprint and tried to pressure their offensive glass, but our guys shut it down and came up with a majority of the big rebounds late.”

LA Tech’s standout forward Kenneth Lofton Jr. had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. With 2:07 to play in the game, Lofton fouled out of the game, and without their leading scorer, the Bulldogs failed to mount a late comeback leaving the score 83-73 at the end of regulation. 

FAU finished an efficient night on offense shooting 52% from the field, 43.5% from three-point range, and 77.8% from the free-throw line. Martin continued his breakout season as the Owls’ leading scorer with 21 points, eight rebounds, and an assist.

The Owls will stay in Boca Raton to prepare for another home conference matchup against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles on Saturday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m. in the Burrow at Abessinio Court. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Cameron Priester is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @PriesterCameron.