BOCA RATON — With sound effects straight from Mario games, it only makes sense that the Owls would be making three-pointers on a video game level.
Home for the first time this season, FAU rebounded from a winless Hawaii trip to record their first victory of the season with a 98-64 blowout win over NAIA Edward Waters.
“[The sound effects] are still ringing in my ears,” Booker said after a 15 point outing. “It’s fun playing that way, getting shots and playing fast – we’re kind of playing like Golden State in a way.”
Without Florida Atlantic’s precision from behind the line, however, the final score may have been a bit closer. Like a cheat code entered into a title screen before tipoff, the Owls made 10 of their threes – with Frank Booker and Gerdarius Troutman combining to make eight of their 16 shots from long range.
All in all, the Owls scored 30 of their 98 points by way of three-point shots.
“We want to play with more pace this year and we think we have the depth that can allow us to do that,” FAU coach Michael Curry said after the Owls’ first win in a home opener since 2013. “All players at every level say they want to run and play with pace, but it takes conditioning both physically and mentally and I think we still have a ways to go to get there.”
Sixth man Adonis Filer led all scorers with 17 points, six of those coming from behind the arc.
GameBrowser: FAU 98, Edward Waters 64
Moving Forward: The shooting issues that plagued Filer during the Hawaii trip seemed to go away on Sunday, as the former Clemson Tiger made 50 percent of his shots and finished with 17 total points… Four players finished in double-digit scoring, the third straight game where at least three Owls had more than 10 points…FAU had seven blocks on the afternoon.
Moving Backwards: FAU allowed a combined 26 points from Keith Williams Jr. and Oshey Washington…Jesse Hill had 3 fouls in eight minutes of play.
Key Stat: 36 – Number of unanswered points the Owls had during one point in the second half, going on a 36-0 run across a 9:27 stretch.
Up Next: With Thanksgiving on Thursday, the Owls will play only one game this week – a Tuesday showdown at home with the University of South Florida Bulls. Tip-off is currently slated for 7 p.m.
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