Following a heartbreaking buzzer-beater loss on Nov. 30, the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team (6-5) went on the road to Florida International University (3-6). They came out with a 10-point win over their long-standing Panther rivals.
The Owls entered their home court once again on Dec. 10 to host Jacksonville University Dolphins (5-5) in the third annual MegaBowl. The first Boca Raton MegaBowl was in 2022 when FAU’s Final Four team hosted Bryant University after they came off a monumental win against the University of Florida 76-74.
In the 2024 MegaBowl, the Owls came out on top of Jacksonville 85-63 after a second-half explosion. At halftime, the score was 37-31 in favor of FAU and out of the break, Florida Atlantic took advantage of their size and agility to attain the 22-point differential win.
“I think what a great thing to do is win at the Elly. I love FAU and I love being here and actually get one where we’re in double digits and pulling away a little bit felt really good…,” said head coach John Jakus. “I throughout our rebounding margin, turnover margin, actually grew in the right direction and overall to execute like that while they got finals going on, we’re really thankful.”
In attendance at tonight’s game was new football head coach Zach Kittley. He was hired just one week ago and asked the fans to bring their support in the next fall while expressing his family’s excitement to be down in Boca Raton. FAU Interim President Stacy Volnick also showed her support for the team.
Despite FAU scoring just 12 seconds into the game from guard Leland Walker’s lob to center Matas Voketatis, it took a while for either team to start circulating offensive momentum.
Voketatis ended the night with 17 points, only missing two shots, and he tied his highest career points. He also came down with eight rebounds to have the second most.
“I thought tonight was so special. I’m incredibly proud of him,” said Jakus. “Then just in general, I want to shout out coach Jordan Fee and coach Isaiah Austin who work with him every morning. They watch film with him all the time and where other people would have given up on him, we double down on him tonight and he goes away.”
At the first media timeout five minutes into the game, FAU held a 7-5 lead. The Owls were 43% from the field, compared to the Dolphins 18% from the field. FAU had five turnovers, something that has been a consistent struggle for them on the season averaging 12.6 per game and they ended the night with 13.
But the Dolphins had their moments of error, and FAU’s forward Baba Miller read a pass and intercepted it. He chucked the ball down the court to forward Tre Carroll. Carroll drew the foul on the dunk attempt, making one, 8-5. Later on, Carroll tipped a pass to himself and this time secured the dunk off the Dolphin’s turnover, 14-11, 10:51.
The Dolphins entered a 9-0 scoring run with 8:30 to go, they began to take over from the three point line, averaging 53.8% compared to their slow start in the first 10 minutes to take a six-point lead.
Walker showcased his connection with his teammates again, and threw it up to Miller, who slammed down the dunk in front of the fans, 23-23 6:43. They went on a 13-0 scoring run themself to take the lead and the Owls were able to maintain it for the final stretch of the first half.
“I’m just happy that we were in that situation because we had enough stops where we could actually get the kill shot. We could look for the loud dunks and I think there’s a lot more fun in us if we keep playing defense,” said Jakus.
Besides slow starts, another trend throughout the game was fouls. With four minutes left in the first half, the Owls entered the bonus after Jacksonville racked up their eighth foul.
Both teams matched each other’s intensity, constantly fighting under the rebound and attempting to swat out a steal. Florida Atlantic came out on top of the battle with 50 rebounds over Jacksonville’s 36.
At the half, the Owls led 37-31 and picked up their FG shooting to 43% but remained at 25% beyond the arc, a strength that head coach John Jakus had emphasized them having months leading up to the season. The Dolphins hung in there and only allowed FAU to have a largest lead of nine points.
“You just need to play more humble, you know, better defense. Get rebounds, not let them shoot threes,” Vokietatis said is what Jakus told the team during halftime.
Just over three minutes into the second, the Dolphins had their second shot clock violation of the game, resulting in a turnover. It gave guard Niccolo Moretti the opportunity to take down a layup and gather the Owls their largest lead of the game with 11 points.
As the Owls cleaned up their turnovers, Jacksonville began to create their own with four in three minutes, which helped to fuel FAU’s offensive momentum. Off a missed free throw, forward Kaleb Glenn came down with the rebound and slammed in it, then stole the ball and went down the court to attain another dunk, 56-40.
Once again, FAU entered the bonus, but this came with ten minutes left in the game. JAC’s forward Zimi Nwokeji was fouled out and brought in Jacksonville’s tenth foul of the half.
Tides completely turned in FAU’s favor during the second; they increased their three-point percentage by 15%. JAC struggled offensively and continued to toss up shots that didn’t find the net, they had two three-minute scoring droughts and in the blink of an eye, the Owls had a 22-point lead.
With 3:33 to go, FAU maintained an 82-57 lead and during the media timeout a chant began to arise from the stands, “We want Jack! Both the student section and annual ticket holders joined in, even Carroll from the bench.
FAU’s guard Devin Vanterpool found his first points of the night beyond the arc with just over two minutes to go. He redshirted his first season and it was his fifth game of the season where he saw playing time.
With 1:43 left, fellow guard Jack Johnson was put into the game, following the crowd’s chant for him. Johnson is a redshirt sophomore and was one of the two players on the team who experienced FAU’s Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2023. He’s only played two games prior with an average time of a minute and a half.
“They bring energy every day in practice, shoot around, games, it’s good for our team, especially when you got players that can just hype you up and get you going,” said Glenn about his teammates who don’t get consistent playing time or are battling with injuries.
Johnson missed both of his shot attempts, remaining scoreless in his career at FAU, and drippled out the final seconds of the game to secure FAU’s 85-63 win with the trophy of the MegaBowl.
The Owls continue at home on Dec. 14 at 2 p.m. to play Texas State University (7-3). The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or Twitter (X) @MeganBruinsma.
