FAU men’s basketball (15-13, 8-7 C-USA) suffered a disappointing 70-51 defeat to the Old Dominion (ODU) Monarchs (11-17, 6-9 C-USA) at the Chartway Arena Thursday night in Norfolk, Va.

FAU played a good offensive first half scoring 32 points, spreading the points across the board. They scored seven free-throws, made five shots from behind the arc, and grabbed a total of 20 rebounds. Freshman center Vladislav Goldin and freshman forward Giancarlo Rosado were the two top scorers at halftime with six points apiece.

ODU’s junior guard Kalu Ezipke scored the most points in the half with 13 points, going 5-7 from the line. Senior guard C.J. Keyser contributed with 12 points.

FAU headed into the second half down 36-32, and scored just 19 points. Goldin was the Owls’ top scorer with 13 points. 

Ezikpe was a standout player for the night, as he scored a game-high 17 points, including seven points from the stripe. He also had 17 rebounds. 

Senior forward Austin Trice and Keyser were two other top performers for ODU. Each player scored in double digits and did well defensively with a combined total of 11 defensive rebounds. The Monarchs took advantage of their scoring opportunities, given from the 11 total turnovers the Owls committed.

FAU travels to Charlotte, N.C. to face the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers on Saturday, Feb. 26, at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Matthew Aguilar-Lizzi is a staff writer at the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected], or tweet him @mattaguilarUP.