On Saturday, the No. 10 Florida Atlantic Owls (2-1) men’s basketball team had their home game winning streak snapped by the Bryant University Bulldogs (2-3), 61-52.
The Owls came out red hot in the first five minutes of this game, going on an 8-0 run. From there, Bryant stormed back to take the lead 15-14 with 11:21 left in the first half.
Both teams played lockdown defense and forced one another to take contested shots. By the end of the first half, each side was shooting under 40% from the field and under 30% from three-point range.
FAU junior guard Johnell Davis was the one bright spot in the first half. He was very efficient, going 4-5 from the field with nine points after scoring one last Tuesday against Eastern Michigan University.
A recurring theme to start the season is missing timely FAU free throws. They shot 3-7 from the line in the first half.
FAU’s struggles would continue into the second half, missing nine of their first 11 shots and only making a single three. Bryant came out of halftime on a mission. A big shot from Bryant senior guard Earl Timberlake tied the game at 33.
He got fouled on the play and sank the free throw to make it 34-33, giving Bryant their first lead of the second half. From there, the Bulldogs kept their foot on the gas and held the lead for the rest of the game.
Their largest lead came when Bryant senior guard Sherif Gross-Bullock made a layup to make it a 53-41 game.
“It’s a good basketball team that’s faced a lot of adversity and they really came together as a group today,” said head coach Dusty May. “They were quicker to the ball, great in transition and tough on the glass.”
Despite Bryant being undersized, they were able to outpace FAU in points in the paint 28-22. Timberlake contributed heavily in the second half, scoring nine points on 4-7 shooting, adding seven rebounds and two steals.
The Bulldogs continued to play great defense down the stretch, just as they did all game, holding FAU to 6-30 shooting in the second half and blocking three shots. FAU junior forward Giancarlo Rosado was the only Owl who shot over 50% in the second half.
“Get closer. We were already a close group, and we’re not going to let this game define us,” said Rosado. “We’re gonna take our off day tomorrow, come back to practice the next day, and prepare for Butler, make sure we get back to the craft.”
Gross-Bullock paced the Bulldogs as he has all season with 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and two assists.
FAU will look to bounce back when they travel to Orlando to take on Butler University (3-1) Bulldogs in the ESPN Events Invitational on Nov. 23 at 2:30 p.m. The game will air on ESPN2.
Jake Walker is a contributing writer for the University Press. Email him at [email protected] or DM via X (@jwalk729) and Instagram (@jake_walker729) for more information regarding this or other stories.
