Start to finish
FAU didn't have any trouble putting away Troy in an 80-59 victory at The Burrow.
Originally published on
1/17/2013
by
Alyssa Barbieri
BOCA RATON – Florida Atlantic could taste victory early in the second half of Thursday’s game against Sun Belt Conference opponent Troy, but the Owls didn’t let up until game’s end.
FAU dominated the second half handily beating the Trojans 80-59 at The Burrow.
“It’s another victory and winning begets winning,” said Owls coach Mike Jarvis. “Guys get used to winning just like they get used to losing. We’d like to get Saturday’s so that we can match last year’s win total. Then we can move forward from there.”
After leading by four points at halftime, the Owls came to life in the second half with a 17-4 run that catapulted them to a solid double-digit lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
“Just keep doing what we’re doing and get that lead,” Gantt said of the team’s second-half mindset. “Just working on our defensive execution and just not letting up.”
The last time the Owls (10-9, 5-3 Sun Belt) faced the Trojans on Dec. 27 in Troy, FAU departed with a 61-54 victory and Gantt had passed Earnest Crumbley as FAU’s all-time leading scorer.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Gantt was recognized as FAU’s all-time leading scorer during a special presentation.
The Owls finished Thursday night with four players in double-digits: Gantt (23), Stefan Moody (15), Pablo Bertone (14) and Jackson Trapp (11). It was Gantt’s 10th consecutive game with 20+ points.
“We really moved the ball at times and we didn’t really take any bad shots, forced shots,” he said. “We have a lot of talented scorers on our team. When they get going we’re pretty hard to stop.”
WebBrowser: FAU 80, Troy 59
Moving forward: Pablo Bertone scored 14 points, nabbed 4 rebounds and had 4 assists... Jackshon Trapp had a solid game scoring 11 points, 5 assists and even had a block … Dragan Sekelja finally had his breakout game of the season. He scored 6 points, nabbed 3 rebounds, doled out 5 assists and had a block
Moving backward: Kelvin Penn was held scoreless on an injury-shortened night for the forward. He took an elbow to the forehead midway through the second half, which required several stitches. He is expected to play Saturday when FAU hosts North Texas. … FAU’s bench was outscored 43-20.
Key stat: +17 – assist-to-turnover margin
Up next: FAU hosts North Texas on Saturday at 7 p.m