FAU men’s basketball (1-1) played their first road game of the season on Friday night, falling 80-67 to the Ole Miss Rebels (2-0) in Oxford, Miss.

Even though the Owls took a 7-5 lead to start the game, Ole Miss scored nine unanswered to steal the momentum as the first half went on.

The Rebels grew their lead by as much as 15 until FAU went on a 8-2 run with less than four minutes remaining to have the score be 39-30 to end the first half. 

FAU struggled shooting from beyond the arc, only converting two of its 10 attempts heading into halftime. Sophomore center Vladislav Goldin was the Owls’ leading scorer at halftime with eight points.

After struggling with two points in the first half, sophomore guard Alijah Martin gained a rhythm with 14 points in the second half. He made five out of six shots from the field, including three attempts from downtown.

Even as the Owls cut the deficit to seven with 2:11 left, the Rebels scored six straight points to pull off the win.

Goldin had a game-high 19 points including nine rebounds, Martin ended with 16 points, and sophomore guard Johnell Davis had 10 points, three rebounds, and two assists.

Junior forward Jaemyn Brakefield led the way for Ole Miss with 17 points and eight rebounds, as junior guard Matthew Murrell, and senior forwards Robert Allen and Josh Mballa provided 10 points each.

The Owls conclude their two-game road trip with a stop to Gainesville, Fla., taking on the University of Florida on Monday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. The match will be broadcast on SEC Network.

Richard Pereira is the News Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @Rich26Pereira.