The Owls jumped out to a big lead against Savannah State and nearly gave it all back before pulling away for a 94-68 win at home.
The victory stretched FAU’s home winning streak to five games.
The Owls (9-14) carried a 46-36 lead into the locker room while shooting 55.6 percent in the first half. But the Tigers (10-16) cut the lead to 48-44 less than two minutes into the second half. The run prompted an angry FAU coach Rex Walters to call a quick timeout and refocus his team.
“We were turning the ball over like we didn’t want it,” Walters said. “You definitely didn’t want to be in the timeout at that time. I wasn’t using my best grammar.”
After the timeout the Tigers cut the lead to two. From there Sean Alarcon hit a 3-pointer to extend the lead to five and the Owls went on a 9-1 run.
“After the timeout we got together and we said it was the time for us to start playing some defense,” Alarcon said.
However, the Tigers didn’t give up and more importantly the Owls couldn’t put them away easily. FAU eventually stretched its lead to 12 with seven minutes left in the game. From there the rout was on.
“Our guys are just continuing to improve,” Walters said.
Five Owls scored in double figures including Alarcon (12 points), Jeff Parmer (18), Carlos Monroe (13), Paul Graham (18) and Xavier Perkins (11).
“We got a lot of great effort from a lot of different guys,” Walters said.
94 points was the best score by FAU this season. While they committed 21 turnovers of their own, the Owls also forced a season-high 31 turnovers.
“That’s a pretty good stat,” said the defensive-minded Alarcon.
The Owls now head out on the road, looking for their first Sun Belt win of the season away from home. They play Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
News and notes from the athletic department
Academic OwlsThe athletic department announces 3.0+ GPA Club: FAU saw 176 student-athletes achieve a grade point average of 3.0 and above for the Fall 2007 semester. See the complete list of high achievers here.
Baseball’s First Pitch Dinner and Opening SeriesThe FAU athletic department cordially invites you to join head coach Kevin Cooney and the FAU baseball program on the weekend of Feb. 21-24. Reconnect with former players and cheer on the team as they open the season hosting a three-game series against the 5th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, two-time defending College World Series runners-up. Information on the dinner can be found here.
Senior Day for SwimmersThe FAU women’s swimming and diving team will honor its nine seniors this Saturday at FAU Pool. Brittany Fabry, Shawna Griffith, Jenny Harms, Danielle Kuykendall, Jessica Lampkin, Colleen Lehane, Samantha Schlachterman, Lauren Shue and Lisa Thompson will all be recognized in the final home meet of the season.