FAU men’s basketball (4-1) cruised to victory Saturday night, knocking down the Detroit Mercy University Titans (2-2) 76-55 at home.

“We are excited about the start of the season, we learned a lot about ourselves and we’ve just tried to fix some weaknesses,” head coach Dusty May said.

The Owls got off to a hot start, making their shots and locking down on the defensive end. They led 16-7 at the 10-minute mark of the first half. 

Sophomore guard Alijah Martin knocked down a three-point attempt to pace the squad early on with five points. Detroit Mercy looked outmatched in the first half, struggling to score against the Owls’ defense. 

One play in particular that stood out was from Martin. He brought the ball up quickly and surveyed the court before making a great pass to catch junior guard Bryan Greenlee in stride for a three-pointer. At one point in the first half, FAU led by as much as 25 points. 

FAU closed the first half with a 22-point lead for a score of 42-20. 

Brandon Weatherspoon started things off in the second half with a wide open layup for the Owls. FAU maintained a firm grip on the game following the return from half time. 

FAU led 57-31 with 9:31 remaining. Their dominance continued as they held over a 20-point lead throughout the remainder of the second half. Freshman forward Brenen Lorient lit up the home crowd as he elevated for an alley-oop dunk on a pass from senior guard Michael Forrest. 

Some of the Owls’ starters got to rest for the majority of the second half with the deficit being too much for the Titans to overcome. At one point, the Owls nearly extended their lead to 30 points outplaying Detroit Mercy in every aspect. 

“I thought we were extremely aggressive defensively, our communication was the best it’s been all season,” May said. “I thought we did a good job of defending and rebounding, and we’ll get there offensively.” 

The Owls will have an extended layoff before traveling to New York to take on the Albany Great Danes on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 1 p.m. The match will be broadcast on ESPN+. 

Kevin Garcia is a staff writer for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email him @[email protected], or tweet him @kevingar658.