Seen this one before
FAU once again failed to get a shot off in the final seconds, falling to Louisiana-Lafayette 58-57.
Originally published on
2/16/2013
by
Chuck King
When the game is on the line, FAU may want to make sure the ball is not in the hands of its leading scorer, Greg Gantt.
For the fifth time this season the Owls had the ball in the closing seconds with a chance to win or tie only to fail to get a shot off, giving Louisiana-Lafayette a 58-57 victory in the CajunDome.
Elfrid Payton's circus shot with 6 seconds remaining put the Ragin' Cajuns up by a point. Any chance the Owls would have to win rolled out of bounds when Gantt lost control of his dribble.
That was the second time in a week that Gantt failed to launch a game-winning shot in the closing seconds. A Gantt turnover last Saturday against South Alabama gave the Jaguars a one-point victory. Gantt also committed two other turnovers in similar situations earlier this season.
Making matters worse, the misplay in the final seconds was Gantt's second turnover in the final minute. Compounding Gantt's struggles, Pablo Bertone also missed the front end of a one-and-one with 19 seconds remaining to set up Payton's game winner.
Most of the night was utterly forgettable for Gantt, who didn't have a field goal in the first half. One of the nation's Top 10 scorers, Gantt missed his first 14 shots before finally connecting from close range nearly four minutes into the second half.
From that point until the final minute, Gantt played like the Sun Belt's leading scorer, helping the Owls erase a 10-point second half deficit. Gantt's 18 points were a game high and helped FAU (12-16, 7-10) build a five point lead late in the game.
Shawn Long led ULL (10-17, 6-10) with 16 points.
GameBrowser: ULL 58, FAU 57
Moving forward: Jordan McCoy grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. His previous career high was 12. He also had eight points. ...Dragan Sekelja struggled defensively, but he did have seven points in 8 minutes.
Moving backward: Richard Morrow committed two early turnovers and managed only 2 points in 11 minutes. ...As a team FAU made only 57 percent of its free throws (12-of-21). ...Kelvin Penn was not credited with a point and had only three rebounds.
Key stat: 22 – percent shooting for FAU in the first half. The Owls made 6 field goals.
Up next: FAU travels to the Dallas area to face North Texas on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.