Men’s Basketball: Owls drop two-of-three in 2015 Men Against Breast Cancer Challenge

Adonis Filer’s scoring not enough as fouls keep team off board

Redshirt+junior+guard+Adonis+Filer+goes+for+a+layup+while+Warner%E2%80%99s+defender+jumps+to+block+during+the+Owls+75-72+loss+on+Nov.+17.+Mohammed+Emran+%7C+Asst.+Creative+Director

Redshirt junior guard Adonis Filer goes for a layup while Warner’s defender jumps to block during the Owls’ 75-72 loss on Nov. 17. Mohammed Emran | Asst. Creative Director

Josh Talero, Contributing Writer

Men’s basketball (1-4) lost two of three matchups this past weekend while participating in the 2015 Men Against Breast Cancer Challenge, hosted by Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

The Owls’ win was their first of the season as they defeated the host Miami Redhawks. Their two losses came against Northeastern and Lipscomb University.

Here’s what you need to know from this past weekend’s games:

Game One: Northeastern 60, FAU 58

FAU couldn’t keep an early lead to the Northeastern Huskies Friday night during their 60-58 loss in a game where both teams traded leads 13 times before the final buzzer.

The Owls led (3-0) at halftime, 26-23, despite limited play from starting forwards C.J. Turman and Matthew Reed. Turman and Reed both committed two and three fouls respectively, and were forced to sit during most of the game’s early stages.

The Huskies used a 16-0 run in the final minutes to help put them back in control after trailing FAU for much of the game.

FAU committed 13 total fouls throughout the first half, sending the Huskies to the free-throw line 14 times while converting 10. They finished the game with 24 fouls.

Despite allowing the Huskies multiple trips to the foul line, the Owls’ defense forced the team to miss 20 of their attempted 26 shots in the first half.

Freshmen guards Nick Rutherford, Jeantal Cylla and junior guard Marquan Botley all led FAU in scoring at the end of the half with seven points apiece. Botley would finish with a team-high 14 points.

Turman fouled out with more than seven minutes left to go in the game, leaving the team with a weaker presence underneath the rim. The Owls allowed the Huskies to grab 38 total rebounds, including 14 offensive rebounds.

Game Two: FAU 75, Miami 69

Florida Atlantic earned their first victory of the 2015-16 season against the Miami Redhawks (2-2)  in their second game of the three-game weekend series.

The Owls (1-3)  finished the first half strong defensively, leading the Redhawks 28-23 at the break. FAU forced the Redhawks to commit four turnovers in the final 5:14 of the half and held them scoreless in the final two minutes.

Redshirt junior guard Adonis Filer finished the half with a team-leading 12 points. Filer would end the game leading all players with a career-high 23 points.

FAU’s strength underneath the basket was on display early as the Owls outrebounded the Redhawks during the first 20 minutes of play. The Owls grabbed 36 total rebounds, including eight offensive rebounds.

Sophomore center C.J. Turman finished with a game-high 12 rebounds as well as 19 points.

The Redhawks used a 12-2 scoring drive in the second half to take a 42-39 lead over the Owls with 13:54 left in the game.

A 6-0 run in the game’s final minutes helped FAU to pull away from Miami and earn their first win of the year.

Game Three: Lipscomb 79, FAU 65

The Owls closed out this weekend’s series of games struggling to score, ultimately being defeated by the Lipscomb University Bisons 79-65.

FAU defended well against Lipscomb early on, forcing the Bisons to commit six turnovers in five minutes. The Owls also used a 6-0 run to establish an early 13-8 lead.

The Owls forced 10 total Lipscomb turnovers in the first half, but were unable to overcome poor shooting to establish a dominant lead. The Bisons took better care of the ball during the second half, only turning the ball over four times before the game’s end.

With a little more than three minutes remaining in the firsr half, FAU had made just two of their last 20 shots as Lipscomb took a 32-23 lead into halftime. The Owls finished the half shooting 10-for-36 from the field while making only one of their 13 attempted 3-pointers.

FAU’s shooting woes continued in the second half. Reed and Turman both fouled out before the end of regulation, the second time in five games that Turman has fouled out.

Filer led all FAU players in scoring for the second straight game with 18 points, while the rest of the team shot just 18-53 from the field. Filer also made three-of-four attempted 3-pointers.

After a week off, the Owls will head to Greenville, NC to take on East Carolina University on Dec. 1.

Josh Talero is a contributing writer for the University Press. To contact him on this or other stories, he can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.