FAU finishes up their 2 game game road stand with a matchup against the Charlotte 49ers from Halton Arena. The Owls head into the matchup off a big win against ECU, while Charlotte has lost 3 in a row.
Former FAU Owl Giancarlo Rosado comes off the bench for Charlotte and this matchup will be a game between 2 teams with very different styles as FAU looks to speed it up, while Charlotte slows it down with a grit and grind mentality.
Stay tuned below for live updates as this one progresses.
U16 timeout-
FAU came out with great energy in this one, converting on 4 of their first 7 shots, getting buckets from 4 different players. While Charlotte also hit 3 of their first 7 shots, FAU was doing a solid job denying them at the rim, recording 2 blocks in the first 4 minutes and heading into the U16 timeout with 15:24 to play the Owls held a 9-6 lead.
U12 timeout-
Out of the U16, the teams went back and forth as Matas Vokietaitis came off the bench with a bucket down low, while former Owls Giancarlo Rosado hit one for Charlotte, however after that FAU began to open up a possession lead. After that FAU began to open up a multi-possession lead, as Leland Walker and Nico Moretti both converted on drives to the rim to extend the Owls lead to 15-10 with 13:40 to play and a few possesions later, Baba Miller converted down low, while Walker hit a mid-range jumper and the Owls jumped out to a 19-12 lead with 12:30 to play. Charlotte was able to convert on a triple on the ensuing possesion following the 4-0 FAU run and heading into the U12 timeout with 11:28 to play FAU held a 19-12 lead.
U8 timeout-
This game turned into a bit of battle early on, as out of the U12, as Kaleb Glenn split a pair of free-throws, while Matas scored his second bucket of the day extending the Owls lead to 22-15 with 10:49 to play. After that things slowed down for FAU, as they went on a scoring drought that went on to span nearly 5 minutes, while Charlotte went on a mini 4-0 run and heading into the U8 timeout FAU held a 22-19 lead. Both teams were battling down low, with FAU holding a 14-10 lead over charlotte in points in the paint, while overall both teams were shooting over 50% from the field.
U4 timeout-
That scoring drought for FAU continued after the U8 timeout, as the Owls were struggling from beyond the arc only converting on 2 of their first 11 triples, the second coming from Baba Miller after a 5-0 Charlotte run out of the U8 timeout to regain the Owls a 25-24 lead with 5:39 to play. Charlotte responded however and heading into the U4 timeout the 49ers were holding a 29-27 lead over FAU with 3:58 to play.
Final 4-
After things began to turn south for FAU during the previous 4 minutes, the Owls locked in over the final 4, going on an 8-1 run and not allowing Charlotte to make a single field goal over the final 4 minutes. Tre Carroll closed the half with a mini 4-0 run, converting on back to back buckets, the latter in transition off of a steal and heading into halftime FAU held a 35-30 lead over Charlotte.
Halftime thoughts-
After a red-hot start which saw FAU convert on 60% of their field goals through the first 10 minutes, the Owls cooled off finishing the half converting 41% of their field goals and only 16% of their triples and the lack of scoring from beyond the arc allowed Charlotte to remain in the game. The biggest thing for FAU that was keeping them in the game was a bounce back performance on the glass, as at half they led Charlotte 23-11 and were not allowing the consistent second chances that plagued them against ECU. With the lack of perimeter success, the Owls were finding scoring from their bigs as Carroll, Miller and Vokietaitis accounted for 19 of the Owls 35 first half points.
2H first 4-
The Owls came out with fire to start the second half, forcing 3 turnovers on 3 straight Charlotte possessions to start the second half and all of a sudden the Owls jumped out to a 40-30 lead with 18:23 to play. Despite Charlotte finding some offense, FAU responded to their 5-0 run, with a 7-5 run, getting buckets from 4 different Owls during the first 4 minutes of the half and after a Leland Walker triple and another Carroll bucket off a turnover, Charlotte called timeout with FAU leading 47-35.
U12 timeout-
The Owls continued their strong play out of the U16 timeout, as Giancarlo Rosado converted an and-1 for Charlotte out of the U16, however FAU responded to that with a quick 5-0 run to give the Owls a 52-38 lead with 14:44 to play and after that things slowed down for both sides. Charlotte responded to FAU’s 5-0 run with a 4-0 run of their own and that was their final points for nearly 3 minutes, as with 12:05 to play Tre Carroll converted down low to give FAU a 54-42 lead, which was the score heading into the U12 with 11:25 remaining in the second half.
U8 timeout-
The Owls continued to be agressive out of the U12 timeout, getting a bucket from Caarroll at the rim and Matas got to the free throw line and split a pair which extended the Owls lead to 57-44 with 10:31 to play. After that however the Owls offense went quiet as Charlotte went on a 7-0 run, converting on only their 3rd triple of the day and heading into the U8 timeout with 7:51 to play FAU held a 57-51 lead.
U4 timeout-
After Charlotte creeped back into it by cutting the deficit to 6, the Owls responded with a 10-4 run, getting buckets from 4 different Owls and heading into the U4 timeout the Owls held a 67-55 lead with 3:46 to play.
Final 4-
Charlotte came out of the U4 with a much needed bucket, a triple from Jaeshon Thomas to cut the deficit to 9, however the Owls had answers to the 49ers runs in the form of Nico Moretti, as he scored 5 straight for FAU to match Charlotte’s 5 and with 2:21 to play the Owls held a 12 point lead, 72-60. Moretti hit another triple with 18 seconds remaining, and although former Owl Giancarlo Rosado responded with one of his own, it was too little too late as the Owls closed out a 75-64 victory.