FAU men’s basketball (19-13, 11-7 C-USA) are victorious after their dominant 86-59 performance against the University of Southern Mississippi (USM) Golden Eagles (7-26, 1-17 C-USA) on Wednesday night at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.

The Owls stayed competitive in the beginning of the first half, only down three points in the first 10 minutes. With a solid offensive performance from sophomore guard Bryan Greenlee, scoring nine points and getting three assists for FAU, the best in the team at the time. Golden Eagles’ sophomore guard Walyn Napper looked dangerous as he had the most points at halftime with 13 points.

Freshman forward Giancarlo Rosado came off the bench and contributed seven points, two rebounds, and an assist. The half ended with the Owls ahead 35-29, with 17 rebounds, nine assists, and six steals.

Going into the second half, FAU showed its dominance as the team extended the lead to 59-34 in the first nine minutes. Three of the five starters scored in double-digits, along with two more players from the bench. Freshman center Vladislav Goldin was praised for his efforts on both ends of the field, contributing 12 points, an assist, three rebounds and two steals.

“When you look at our center production and you look at what Vlad and G [Greenlee] are doing together, they were 10-of-12 from the field and had eight rebounds for 23 total points in 33 combined minutes, it’s gonna get hard to get any more productive,” head coach Dusty May said.

Greenlee won C-USA’s Player of the Match as he scored 15 points, all of which came from beyond the arc, along with six assists.

“I really thought [Greenlee] really spaced them out in the first half and got us settled down offensively,” said May. “Then in the second half, I thought he looked like a maestro out there running the show… That’s what we need on the floor.” 

The Owls advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Blazers on Thursday, March 11, at 9:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Stadium.

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.