Greg Gantt scored 21 points on 9 -12 shooting, leading FAU to a 98 – 70 victory over Warner Southern at the Burrow.
A hot three-point shooting performance in the first half from the Owls was too much for the Royals to overcome. Guard Omari Grier came off the bench to hit five of FAU’s 10 made three-pointers in the first half, as the Owls shot 66 percent from behind the arc going into halftime.
“Coach Jarvis has tremendous confidence in me,” said Grier. “Whenever I get the open shot I try not to hesitate.”
Gantt constantly ran the floor hard, as transition baskets helped him bounce back from a four-point game at Kansas
“We’re way more efficient,” said Gantt. “But we still have a long ways to go.”
His head coach, Mike Jarvis, agreed.
“Coaches are never satisfied,” he said. “But I saw some things that I liked. When we’ve run our offense and made the extra pass, we’ve gotten really good shots.”
The Owls bench provided 50 points for the game, as it outscored the starters in the first half: 36 to 22. Point guard Ray Taylor orchestrated the Owls offense efficiently, committing no turnovers and adding 10 assists off the bench for FAU. He hit Jordan McCoy with an alley-oop and dished a no-look pass to Greg Gantt during his 23 minutes of action.
“[It was] his best game of the year,” said Jarvis, who has benched Taylor multiple times for poor play this season. “He’s had a very bad year. He’s not played well at all. But if Ray concentrates on playing defense and running the team, then he will play a lot of minutes.”
Owls forward Pablo Bertone continued his solid play with nine points and 11 rebounds, just missing out on another double-double.
“This game was about us more than Warner Southern,” said Bertone. “It was to see how we would react after a week off and after a tough game against Kansas. I think we came out strong.”
The small yet scrappy Royals, a Division II school, led 10-9 before an 8-0 FAU run gave the Owls the lead for good with 11:35 to play in the first half.
Warner Southern guard Bryce Kachinski made all three of his three-point attempts in the first half, but it was not enough. FAU carried a 58-32 lead into halftime. Royals forward Malcolm Campbell led all scorers with 25 points.
The Owls forced the Royals into 13 turnovers. They used a furious fast break attack to build a lead that reached as high as 30 in the second half.
Despite being blown out, Warner Southern shot 52% from the field. FAU’s domination of the glass was the difference though, as it out rebounded the Royals 41 – 18.
Guard Dennis Mavin, inserted into the starting lineup after a strong effort off the bench against Kansas in FAU’s last game, scored 13 points on 4 – 11 shooting.
With the game out of reach throughout the second half, the only question left was whether FAU could crack the century mark.
“Do we have a promotion for 100 points?” Jarvis asked. “You don’t rub salt into the wounds of your opponent.”
FAU travels to take on Mississippi State on Tuesday. After defeating them last season, Jarvis cautioned his team to bring its best effort — and for the rest of the country to look for his team somewhere else.
“I think that the days of us sneaking up on people are over,” said Jarvis. “I’m really looking forward to Tuesday night’s game. We’re David going up against these teams and they’re Goliath. When you get to the dance you want to know that you can compete and have a chance. That’s why we play the Washingtons, Miamis, Mississippi States and Kansases. Because when we get to the NCAA Tournament that’s the kind of teams we’re going to play.”
