Florida Atlantic men’s basketball (14-9, 6-4 AC) came up short in a down-to-the-wire game against the East Carolina Pirates (7-15, 2-7 AC), 76–75. This was FAU’s annual “Coaches vs. Cancer” game, as each FAU coach wore a commemorative cancer patch on their arm, signifying the NCAA’s fight against cancer.
FAU now leads 5-3 in the all-time series; this was their first-ever home loss to the Pirates, and their first loss to ECU since December 2015.
Guard Kanaan Caryle and forward Devin Vanterpool were back in action after missing FAU’s last game against Memphis due to injury. Caryle missed the game with an ankle injury, and Vanterpool with an illness. Caryle left the game early with the same injury, ultimately being unable to continue.
“We have to really think about what we’re going to do moving forward because we wanted a healthy Kanaan for Tulsa and for the bye week,” said FAU Head Coach John Jakus, regarding Carlyle’s injury. “He tried to do his best for his teammates, and I’m really proud of that.
ECU guard Jordan Riley played the entire game and led the Pirates with 35 points, and Isaiah Elohim led the Owls with 20 points. Forward Devin Williams had 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.
“He’s a really good player. Most people aren’t going to be able to guard him one-on-one, and if anything, we did that pretty firmly tonight,” said Jakus, acknowledging the task of defending Riley.
Neither team scored for the first two minutes before Vanterpool started the scoring with a three-pointer. After two more Vanterpool three-pointers, FAU went up 21-9, pushing the pace and taking a double-digit lead early.
ECU battled back, going on a 21-4 run to take a 30-25 lead over the Owls with four minutes left to play in the first half. ECU took the lead into halftime after three free throws from Riley, putting ECU up 38-36.
Riley led ECU with 20 first-half points, while Vanterpool led the Owls with 14. The Owls turned over the ball 10 times in the first half, and they also committed eight fouls. ECU capitalized, shooting 9-for-9 at the free-throw line.
“The points off turnovers, we’re minus four there, [if] we fix that, we win the game, even if we’re a little better, we win the game. Turnovers killed us. Fouling is a thing for us; it gets to the point when we’re professional foulers, and we fall asleep for moments,” said Jakus, frustrated with the disorientation offensively and defensively.
FAU started the second half on a 4-0 run with a layup from Williams and two free throws from Vanterpool to give the Owls back the lead, 40-38.
Both teams battled back and forth to force a 58-58 tie with eight minutes to go. ECU broke the tie, forcing the fourth lead change of the second half with a jump shot by guard Corey Caulker.
ECU extended the six to five after a three-pointer from guard Demetri Gardner and his free throw on ECU’s ensuing possession, and FAU responded with a Williams three-pointer to cut ECU’s lead to three with just under five minutes to play.
Forward Josiah Parker’s free throw tied the game with four minutes left, and guard Isaiah Elohim gave the Owls back the lead with his second three-pointer, erupting the crowd with 3:15 left to play.
The Pirates went on a 5-0 scoring run to take a 70-68 lead. Guard Niccolo Moretti tied the game at 70 with a driving layup before Riley and Parker traded baskets to tie the game at 72 with 57 seconds left to go.
ECU center Giovanni Emejeru’s layup put ECU back up for the ninth lead change of the game. On the Owls’ next possession, Elohim hit a corner three-pointer on a pass from Moretti to give the Owls a one-point lead with 23.8 seconds left and sending the home crowd into a frenzy.
Riley continued his unreal night, draining two free throws to put ECU up one with 12 seconds left, ending his night with 35 points.
Parker was fouled on FAU’s next drive, but a missed free throw allowed the clock to run out to under 3 seconds, and Elohim then missed a half-court three-pointer, sealing the Owls’ loss at 76-75.
“I didn’t say anything [to him] about the free throw. We didn’t lose the game because of that. I didn’t even bring it up, we’ll tell him we love him,” said Jakus on his approach to Parker after the missed free throw.
FAU remains home and will return to action Wednesday, Feb. 4, against the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at the Eleanor R. Baldwin arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
Mikai Datilus is the Sports Editor for the University Press. Email him at [email protected] or DM him on Instagram @mikaidat for more information on this and other stories.
