The Florida Atlantic Owls (24-2) hosted Conference USA for Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (13-11) in a hard-fought battle down in paradise. The FAU Owls enter the game off a bounce-back win against Rice earlier in the week, after their longest win streak in the nation was snapped but UAB.
The Owls were not only looking to continue in the win column but also continue and defend its 14-game home win streak. Well, FAU would leave with win #15 and it came in an OT thriller. With massive games from Alijah Martin (26 pts, 4 Reb, 0 ast), Johnell Davis (19 pts,6 Reb, 1 ast), and Vlad Goldin (17 pts, 7 Reb, 1 ast).
FAU would unusually open the game. LA Tech would win the jump ball and get the game off to a running start. Fr. Guard Jordan Crawford would open the scoring for both sides with a turnaround jumper giving the Bulldogs their first lead of the game. And for the entirety of the 1st period LA Tech would control the game and lead. The Owls’ first points on the board would come from So. Center Vlad Golden, made the game 2-2 early in the first period.
After trading baskets, the Bulldogs would go on a 10-0 run and shoot 5-6 in the opening 6 mins of the game, giving them a 17-7 lead with 12;30 left in the 1st period. It seemed from this point that LA Tech would continue to have its way and not miss any shots.
Slowly FAU would start to make its climb back. The resurgence would start with center Vlad Goldin, who makes a couple of close-range shots and hits a couple of free throws to make the game 26-18 with 8 mins left of the 1st period.
When speaking with coach Dusty May on feeding the big man, he said “Usually we are a drive and pass-out team but with Vlad coming on as a scorer, we wanted to work that matchup”, this would be a great plan to getting the owls back in the game.
The Owls would ramp up the 3-pointers toward the end of the 1st period, getting help from Micheal Forrest, Bryan Greenlee, and Brandon Weatherspoon making the score 41-41 going into half-time
Even though, LA Tech was still leading the game, you could tell that they as a team were stopping runs with timely baskets. Jr forward Isaia Crawford would keep FAU at bay going 4-7, with 12 points. Most of those points are in response to the surging Owls.
The last time these two teams met, Alijah Martin and Johnell Davis both had over 20 pts each to help lead FAU to a victory over LA Tech and tonight was no different. Both teams were tied 41-41 going into the 2nd period. The Owls were playing sloppy and determined to clean that up. According to guard Bryan Greenlee, “We didn’t guard nothing in the 1st period and that was something we discussed going into the 2nd half”. Once FAU got that under control, one could feel they would take hold of the game.
FAU and LA Tech would match each other shot for shot until Alijah Martin made a big 3-pointer with the game tied to give the Owls the lead with 13:15 left in the 2nd period. This would jump-start a 15-0 run by FAU, giving them a 65-60 lead with 9:15 left. Johnell Davis, Bryan Greenlee, and Jalen Gaffney would all score during this period. The crowd was crazy but something was lurking with the Bulldogs.
A made 3-pointer by Isaia Crawford would stop the bleeding for LA Tech, making the score 53-65 with 6:11 left in the 2nd period. Over the next 3 mins, the Bulldogs would go on a 22-6 run; coming all the way down from 15 and making the score 70-72 with 3:13 left of the game.
This resilience from LA Tech would continue until the end of the game. They forced OT, even though the Owls had a chance to end the game with a last-second shot from Johnell Davis, who came alive in the second half along with Alijah Martin.
At the start of OT, you could feel nervousness in the air. The Owls tended to let teams hang around. Not that they would lose but you would like to avoid these games if you can. The battle-tested Owls would prevail through the 5 min OT to win 90-85.
FAU will be in action again against Middle Tennessee, on Feb 16th be sure to tune in
Recent Comments