“The offensive glass really killed us tonight,” Head Coach Rex Walters said after his FAU team gave up 15 offensive rebounds Saturday night in a 64-59 loss to the McNeese State Cowboys at the Boca campus FAU Arena. Later adding, “You’re not going to beat teams when you do that.”

FAU closed within three points late in the game after a Sanchez Hughley three-pointer with 52 seconds remaining. The Cowboys’ John Ford missed a jumper on the following possession, but McNeese’s Jarvis Bradley got the offensive rebound and Ford made two free throws to seal the win for the Cowboys. FAU led early on in its home opener with Hughley scoring the first two points of the game. The two teams were tied at 18 with 11:38 remaining in the first half after two straight Carlos Monroe baskets. From there, McNeese took control of the game. The Cowboys went on a 15-2 run over the rest of the first half and the score was 33-24 going into the break.

McNeese’s Kleon Penn kept FAU out of the paint all night. The center finished with eight blocks and seven rebounds in the win for the Cowboys. Penn’s presence was felt all night and caused the Owls out of their game plan. “We shot a lot of floaters,” said Coach Walters, “I don’t teach that.”

Penn was the tallest player on the court at all times, listed at 6-11. When asked of his opponent’s size, Monroe said, “Penn is at least 7-1, easy.”

Monroe led the Owls with 21 points and was “a load to handle,” according to Cowboys Head Coach Dave Simmons, who later noted, “He just punishes inside.”

Jeff Parmer and Xavier Perkins both had 10 points in the loss that dropped the Owls to 1-7 on the season.

The Owls play Florida Gulf Coast Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the Boca campus FAU Arena.