Greg Gantt became the Owls' all-time scoring leader in Thursday's victory over Troy. (Photo courtesy of Owl Pix)

Point taken

Playing the majority of the game at point guard for the first time since middle school, Greg Gantt broke Earnest Crumbley's FAU career scoring record while leading the Owls past Troy 61-54 on Thursday.

Originally published on 12/27/2012

by Chuck King

Greg Gantt became FAU's all-time leading scorer early in Thursday's game at Troy, then kept pouring in buckets to lead the Owls to a 61-54 victory over the Trojans.

Gantt entered the game needing only needing only four points to surpass Earnest Crumbley's career record of 1,559 points. He did so with a running bank shot 4:56 into the game.

"I wasn't really thinking about the record - I knew it was going to come eventually. I just wanted to concentrate on the game," Gantt said. "I knew if I thought about it I would try to force it too much."

Upon breaking the record, Gantt says his thoughts immediately turned to his uncle, James Gantt, who died last year. Greg says the time he spent as a youth with his uncle allowed him to develop into the player he's become.

"He always watched me play basketball and wanted me to be the best I could be," Gantt said. "I dedicated this game to him."

Gantt broke the record while playing a position that's unfamiliar to him. For the first time since middle school he handled the majority of the point guard duties. With Jackson Trapp starting the game on the bench, Gantt responded by scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds - both game highs.

The Owls' leading scorer in all but two games this season, Gantt shouldered the majority of the FAU (6-7, 2-1 Sun Belt)  scoring load for the first 18 minutes before the Owls' offense finally found traction. He scored 14 of the Owls' 32 first-half points.

After trailing by as many as 10, the Owls ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take a three-point lead.
Gantt scored the first four points of the second half, launching the Owls on a 10-0 run to begin the stanza. FAU led by as many as 13 but Troy (5-8) cut the lead to three with under a minute to go.

Four Gantt free throws put the game out of reach.

Gantt said his post-game plans would involve a call to Crumbley. The pair met five years ago when Crumbley was an assistant at North Florida attempting to recruit the player who would eventually break his scoring record.

Crumbley sent Gantt a text message earlier today.

"It said: Congratulations. Go out there and do work. Hard work pays off," Gantt said.

Pablo Bertone scored a career-high 21 points and helped fuel the Owls' 18-0 run that began late in the first half and continued into the second.
 

GameBrowser: FAU 61, Troy 54

Moving Forward: Kelvin Penn got the start and while he only contributed two points, he also grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots before fouling out in the final minutes. ...Walk-on guard Richard Morrow drew the first start of his career. He responded with seven rebounds and four assists, including the dime on Greg Gantt's record-breaking basket. ...Jackson Trapp didn't start, but came off the bench to score 8 points and pull down 4 rebounds.

Moving Backward: Dragan Sekelja started the game on the bench for only the second time this season and wasn't all that effective when he played, going scoreless while grabbing one rebound. ...FAU's big men managed only 5 points. ...The Owls continue to struggle when trying to close out victories.

Key Stat: 1,582 - Number of points Greg Gantt has scored in his FAU career.

Up Next: FAU travels to Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.

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