Hard to top that
Florida Atlantic's Jordan McCoy puts the Owls ahead with a layup with :10 remaining and Kelvin Penn blocks a shot to seal a 67-66 victory over Western Kentucky on Thursday at The Burrow.
Originally published on
1/26/2012
by
Marcus Nelson
BOCA RATON – Florida Atlantic forward Kelvin Penn is just a freshman but he avoided a freshman mistake with the game on the line against Western Kentucky on Thursday.
With the clock winding down and the Owls holding on to a one-point lead, Penn blocked a shot by Hilltopper guard Jamal Crook moments before the buzzer sounded to preserve a 67-66 FAU victory at The Burrow.
“It was crazy and there was a lot of stuff going through my mind ,” Penn said. “Hopefully they wouldn't get a shot off and that's what I was trying to do...It all happened so fast.”
Penn had a career-high five blocks, but none was as big as his last one when it was just as important to not foul Crook as it was to get a hand on the ball.
“If Kelvin's around the ball, we have a pretty good shot at getting a piece of it,” said FAU coach Mike Jarvis. “If we are at Western Kentucky there is probably a foul called. They probably go to the line and probably win the game. But we're at home and you are supposed to be able to be very aggressive at home. We dodged a bullet and we'll take it.”
FAU (9-12, 5-3 Sun Belt) trailed the Hilltoppers 62-53 with less than five minutes remaining, but rallied down the stretch to win its third consecutive game for the first time this season.
Forward Jordan McCoy gave the Owls their first lead since the first minute of the second-half on his layup with :10 remaining that put FAU up 67-66.
“I was wide open, he gave me a great pass and I just wanted to make sure I caught it and finished,” said McCoy, who scored six of the Owls' eight points in the final two minutes of the game. “Ray [Taylor] did the hard work. All I had to do was finish, so the credit goes to Ray on that one.”
The victory was FAU's fourth in its last five games and was the Owls' first win in six games vs. WKU (6-15, 2-6) in Boca Raton.
“It's important for this team at this time to have a game like this where it looked like it's over but the guys come back and find a way to win,” Jarvis said.
Owls guard Shavar Richardson had a season-high 25 points, including the first nine points of the game for FAU.
GameBrowser: FAU 67, WKU 66
GameChanger
Jordan McCoy hit two big buckets in the final :30, the first to pull the Owls to within 66-65 and then his game-winner with :10 remaining that put FAU up for good 67-66.
Trending Topics
- When FAU guard Shavar Richardson gets in a groove, he is hard to stop. His smooth touch earned him 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
- Owls forward Kelvin Penn had a career-high five blocks, including the game-clincher, and could be the answer to FAU stopping teams around the basket.
- Beating Western Kentucky for the first-time ever in Boca Raton isn't worthy of storming the court?
Key stats
4:11 – Time remaining in the second half when Western Kentucky hit its last field goal of the game.
9 – Largest lead by Western Kentucky a the 5:23 mark of the second half
5 – Consecutive shots Shavar Richardson made to start the game.
Up Next
FAU is off on Saturday and returns to the court on Thursday to face South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.