Men’s Basketball: Losing Streak Extended to Six Games in Defeat to Tennessee-Martin

Shooting struggles continue as team tied season-low point total

Redshirt+junior+Adonis+Filer+goes+up+for+a+layup+during+the+Owls+57-48+defeat+to+Tennessee+Martin+on+Dec.+29.+Filer+led+FAU+with+17+points+on+the+day.+Mohammed+Emran+%7C+Asst.+Creative+Director

Redshirt junior Adonis Filer goes up for a layup during the Owls’ 57-48 defeat to Tennessee Martin on Dec. 29. Filer led FAU with 17 points on the day. Mohammed Emran | Asst. Creative Director

Brendan Feeney, Contributing Writer

Florida Atlantic men’s basketball’s offensive struggles continued Tuesday as it fell to the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks, 57-48, extending its losing streak to six games.

After a layup by redshirt junior guard Adonis Filer cut the Skyhawks’ (7-7) lead down to five — 44-39 with 9:36 left in the game — the Owls (2-11) missed 12 of their next 14 shots until sophomore center Ronald Delph hit a basket as time expired.

The Owls shot 32.1 percent from the floor during the game, failing to reach the 60-point mark for the third straight game. FAU’s 48 points tied a season-low.

Filer finished the game with a team-high 17 points. Freshman forward Jeantal Cylla added 12 points for the Owls — 10 of which came in the first half. Both players recorded nine rebounds, which was tied for the second most on the team behind Delph’s 12.

Tennessee-Martin was led by senior forwards Twymond Howard — who entered the game leading the Skyhawks in points, rebounds and assists — and Myles Taylor. Both seniors finished the game with 19 points with Howard also grabbing ten rebounds.

Florida Atlantic’s defense was able to shut-down the rest of the Skyhawks, as their third-leading scorer, senior guard Alex Anderson, only recorded six points. They also limited Tennessee-Martin to 30 percent shooting in the second half.

The Owls will play their first conference game of the season in Miami against in-state rival Florida International University on Jan. 3 at 3 p.m.

Brendan Feeney 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.