By Brett Shweky/Editor
FAU’s Anthony Adger scorched the FIU Panthers from beyond the arc on Saturday night as he scored a game-high 26 points and went 5-of-8 from the three-point mark to fuel the Owls to an 89-72 victory in Miami.
As a whole, the Owls (12-9, 3-5 Conference USA) shot 46.7 percent from behind the three-point line and also recorded an efficient 53.8 field goal percentage.
Michael Forrest contributed with 22 points, and Xavian Stephenson chipped in with 20 on 8-of-10 shooting.
“Credit to FAU and their staff, after playing them two games in a row,” said FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard. “That team has a lot of character and a lot of resolve.”
FIU (13-8, 4-4 C-USA) held the lead for most of the first half until the Owls orchestrated a 6-0 run with 1:47 remaining in the second period to take a 43-42 advantage.
The Owls continued their run to start the second half as the extended their scoring stretch to 24-3, giving them a 16-point lead with 13:16 left in the matchup.
Behind Devon Andrews’ 16 points and Brian Beard Jr.’s 16, the Panthers managed to cut the FAU’s lead to 71-66 with 7:42 remaining. However, FIU’s efforts weren’t enough as the Owls closed out the contest on an 18-6 run.
The Panthers’ 17-point defeat is the team’s worst home loss since falling 78-61 to South Carolina on Nov. 27, 2017.
“We could never string together enough stops. We got down on ourselves (and) we got dejected,” said Ballard. “We got caught on things that are beyond our control and affected our play out there, and it affected our ability to impact the game on the defensive end.”
Osasumwen Osaghae recorded a game-high 13 rebounds for the Panthers, and Isaiah Banks added 10 points off the bench.
The game’s attendance of 4,710 is the largest crowd ever recorded in FIU men’s basketball history.
FIU continues their three-game homestand on Jan. 31 as they host the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
