One frantic sequence sums up the back and forth struggle in FAU’s home opener versus George Mason:

With the Owls up 77-74 late in overtime, Ray Taylor lost the ball on offense, but forward Kelvin Penn recovered on the other end to block Patriots guard Vertrail Vaughn’s shot. The ball landed perfectly in Taylor’s hands at mid-court and he tossed it to a wide open Greg Gantt for a layup with 19.2 seconds left.

Game over, as the ecstatic crowd would rush the court afterwards for an 80-75 victory.

It was far from easy, but FAU rang the victory bell when the buzzer sounded in its home opener against George Mason. The Owls had a 10 point lead in the second half, but it vanished on an Erik Copes layup from Corey Edwards with two seconds remaining to send the game into overtime, leaving the red-clad crowd of 2,854 stunned. But after making five out of its seven shots in the extra period, FAU and its fans could exhale. A victory was secured. After going through ten weeks of losses for the Owl’s football team, a basketball win of any kind was a relief for fans at the Burrow.

“The people who were in the building certainly got their money’s worth,” said head coach Mike Jarvis. “It was cold before the game started, but by the time the game ended, I see everybody had a sweat going.”

George Mason, which has been to the Final Four, is an opponent worthy of respect. It would require a total team effort for the Owls to squeak out the victory, with five players having double digit point totals, led by 15 from Ray Taylor. FAU’s bench provided a necessary spark with 26 points.

“Very few teams in the country are going to be able to have 10 guys play 10 minutes or more in a ball game,” said Jarvis proudly of his team’s depth to this point in the season.

Seldom used Owls forward Andre Mattison only had four points in the game, but his teammates recognized his value to the game defensively.

“Andre Mattison came in and gave us eight great minutes,” said guard Ray Taylor. “When we get contributions like that, we will be tough to beat.”

With Greg Gantt being outscored by George Mason senior forward Ryan Pearson by 8 points(19 to 11), the bench production was the difference.

Luckily for Coach Jarvis, a freshmen sharp shooter would come to the rescue. Omari Grier had 13 timely points off the bench, leaving Jarvis unsurprised.

“He’s one of our most consistent three point shooters,” said Jarvis. “There’s probably not a better first year shooting guard in the country than Omari Grier.”

Ray Taylor, FAU’s smallest player at 5’6, came up huge, grabbing a team high 7 rebounds. Taylor personified FAU in this up and down contest. One minute he would crossover his man for an easy basket, the next he would lose the ball due to full court pressure applied in the second half from the Patriots’ defense. His coach had a clear explanation for his point guard’s turnovers.

“He was probably tired,” said Jarvis. “He was being too cute and messed around with the ball.”

He also was rightfully disappointed in his team’s 12 of 19 free throw shooting, an area he called its “Achilles heel” afterwards and blasted his guards (Gantt, Tucker, Taylor) for their role in it.

Nevertheless, after coming off a 1-3 start to the year after a West Coast road trip, the Owls should take pride in defending its home court.

“It was great for us, especially coming off what we felt was a less than acceptable road trip,” said Taylor. “For us to get a win for our crowd against a program like George Mason is a great lift.”

This was a good start for a team with postseason aspirations. Coach Jarvis’s squad still has areas to improve, mostly defensively, but he believes that the journey to becoming a relevant program is not impossible, as he uses his opponent, George Mason, as an example.

“That program is what someday I hope we can have,” said Jarvis. “A legitimate mid-major program that does all the things it needs to be done to be the best it can be.”