No. 20 FAU men’s basketball (19-5, 9-2 AAC) returned to the win column on Sunday, taking down the Wichita State University Shockers (10-14, 2-9 AAC) 95-82 in overtime on the road.
“Our guys have the belief now that we have been in this situation so many times and we have such a high-level trust with each other,” said head coach Dusty May. “No one feels like they need to be our hero or save us, they just stay in the flow.”
The victory completes the season sweep of Wichita State for FAU, and puts them back on track after falling in another overtime bout on Thursday to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
It was a collective offensive effort by FAU, led by junior center Vladislav Goldin who finished the afternoon with a game-high 20 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Brandon Weatherspoon chipped in 19 points off the bench, while junior guard Johnell Davis added 14 points.
“I am a big energy guy,” said Weatherpsoon. “So I just tried to get our juices going as early as possible and get us going as a great teammate and make sure everything stayed positive.”
After an uncharacteristically poor shooting performance the other night against UAB, FAU shot 47.2% from the field and 30.4% from three-point range.
The Owls now return home after their two-game road trip to host the Temple University Owls on Thursday at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Recap
Both offenses started slow, with the Owls not tallying their first basket until two and half minutes into the game on a pair of free throws by junior guard Alijah Martin.
Weatherspoon got his 19-point performance started early, sinking a three-pointer with 16:49 in the first half then scoring on consecutive possessions a minute later to put the Owls ahead 12-9.
After Wichita took their largest lead of the game at 26-20, FAU went on a 11-2 scoring run to go up 31-28. Things remained close to finish off the first half, as Shockers’ junior guard Xavier Bell sank a mid range jump shot with 52 seconds to go into halftime with FAU leading 38-36.
Despite the multiple lead changes in the first half, FAU remained ahead for almost the entirety of the second half. Weatherspoon continued his solid night, scoring on back-to-back possessions to put the Owls up 49-44, their largest lead of the night to that point.
It appeared as if the Owls were beginning to pull away in the second half as they went on a five-minute, 11-5 scoring run that left them with the largest lead of the game at 68-59 with 6:20.
Shockers, however, fought to keep it close. With two minutes to play, a pair of Wichita free throws cut the FAU lead to 72-70, and then a minute later they took their first lead of the second half with a three-pointer by Bell.
A pair of free throws put the Owls back ahead by one until Wichita equalized the score at 74 with a free throw to send the game to overtime.
After struggling in overtime versus UAB, FAU wasted no time on Sunday starting the overtime period with a 6-0 run. With 1:49 to play, Weatherspoon and Martin sank back-to-back three-pointers putting the Owls ahead by 12, the largest of the night to that point.
With the Shockers unable to cut into that lead, FAU coasted in the final minute and a half of overtime on the way to a 95-82 victory.
Cameron Priester is a staff writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet him @PriesterCameron.
