Saturday's result: Middle Tennessee 72, FAU 59
An MT tank
Middle Tennessee wins Sun Belt title with easy victory over FAU on Saturday.
Originally published on
2/18/2012
by
Marcus Nelson
For the second consecutive season, Florida Atlantic was on the floor when the Sun Belt Conference regular season championship was decided.
Unlike last season, the Owls weren’t the team celebrating. Middle Tennessee clinched the No. 1 overall seed in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 72-59 defeat of FAU on Saturday at the Murphy Center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The loss was the second on the two-game road trip for the Owls, who have now lost four of their last six games with two games remaining in the regular season.
FAU (11-16, 7-7 Sun Belt) had a 16-13 lead early before Middle Tennessee took control and raced out to a 32-22 halftime lead.
Shavar Richardson led the Owls with 16 points. FAU’s Dennis Mavin and Jordan McCoy had 10 points each.
Middle Tennessee (24-4, 13-1) had three players in double figures led by LeRon Dendy’s 20 points.
GameBrowser: MTSU 72, FAU 59
Game Changer
FAU made a charge in the second-half, cutting the margin to 58-50 on a 3-pointer by Dennis Mavin, but a few plays later JT Sulton went up with strong move to make the basket and draw the foul from Jordan McCoy to end any momentum the Owls had.
Trending Topics
- Once a rising star in this conference, FAU guard Greg Gantt has seen his minutes diminish mostly because of his lackluster defensive play.
- If FAU can’t get more production from its guards, the Owls may not win another game this season.
- FAU forward Kore White (1 point, 1 rebound) didn’t quite have the same success going against LeRon Dendy as he did last week against North Texas’ Tony Mitchell.
Key stats
0 – Assists by FAU guard Ray Taylor
25.8 – Field goal percentage by the Owls (16-of-46)
7 – Free throws made by Shavar Richardson on seven attempts.
Up Next
The Owls return home to face South Alabama on Thursday.