SPRINGFIELD, MA.- Florida Atlantic Basketball’s back at it again!
The Owls traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts to face St. Bonaventure University in the 2023 Basketball Hall of Fame Classic. The Beach Boys opened the game hot as Brandon Weatherspoon cracked the score card with a corner three. Johnell Davis continued the FAU hot hand with another three from the opposite side of the corner.
For the next six minutes, the FAU could not score on any level of the court. After the long scoring drought finally ended, the Bonnies had an 11 point lead, but the Owls begin to crawl back. Davis knocks down another long three, Alijah Martin hits a cross-body layup, and both Giancarlo Rosado and Bryan Greenlee drain a fadeaway jumpers.
As time winded down in the first half, Greenlee puts FAU back in front, draining a corner three with 32.1 seconds remaining in the half.
At the end of the first half, FAU leads St Bonaventure 27-26.
Coming out of halftime, both teams traded blows, switching leads, but never pulling away. FAU gained momentum and never looked back midway through the second as Vlad Goldin slams two one handed dunks. Goldin cut through the defense on the exact same play, hitting the Bonnies wide open in the back of the paint.
After missing the past 7 games due to injury, Nick Boyd makes his first big mark on this game with a wide open three. Even with limited time, Boyd showed that he’s back and ready to ball, as he was efficient on both offense and defense.
Shortly thereafter, Bryan Greenlee turns on the jets to extend the Owl’s lead. Greenlee starts his dominance with an and-one layup in traffic. On the next defensive possession, Greenlee locked down his man with elite on ball defense. On the following drive, Greenlee drives to the basket and draws another foul on Bonnies big man, Chad Venning. Because of this play, the Bonnies lead scorer fouled out of the remaining minutes.
After two threes from the Bonnies, Alijah Martin seals the game putting down an easy layup with under a minute remaining in the game.
As the final buzzer sounds, Florida Atlantic defeats St. Bonaventure 64-54. The Owls were led in scoring by Johnell Davis with 16 Points and 9 Rebounds.
FAU improves to 9-2 on the season. The Owls will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to face #1 Arizona on Saturday, December 23. Tip off is slated for 3:00 P.M.
