ORLANDO, FL.- Happy Thanksgiving Owls fans!
For the Florida Atlantic faithful, today was filled with family, food and Owls hoops. This afternoon, FAU traveled to the House of Mouse to face Butler in the ESPN Events Invitational. Coming off of an unexpected upset loss at home against Bryant on Saturday, November 18, all eyes were on FAU to see how The Beach Boys would bounce back.
FAU came into this game with a chip on their shoulders. The Owls offense looked back at full strength again, as contested shots were falling for big buckets. Throughout the first ten minutes of the game, FAU dominated Butler inside the paint, out rebounding the Bulldogs.
The highlight of the first half was an electric alley-top from Jalen Gaffney to Alijah Martin in transition with over seven minutes remaining in the half. Gaffney said “You have a friend in me”, tossing a lob where only Martin can grab it. As Martin slammed the ball, the crowd erupted with thunderous applause.
At the end of the first half, FAU led Butler 46-42.
After an offensive push by Butler, Alijah Martin silences the crowd with two deep three pointers. Martin’s second strike came from the corner, as the ball sinks into the hoop. Later in the half, Johnell Davis gets onto the three-point action, draining another one from the corner pocket.
The matchup between FAU and Butler proved to be a high scoring nail biter. Throughout the game, both teams traded blows, but neither could pull a safe distance away. I liked what I saw from the Owls today.
Offensively, they improved ten fold from the Bryant matchup. Shots were falling again, and the Owls were able to draw crucial fouls to squeak extra points. Defensively, the Owls recorded 39 rebounds and 10 steals. FAU dominated in transition, scoring multiple points off fast breaks.
FAU defeats Butler 91-86 to improve to 3-1. The Owls were led in scoring by Vlad Goldin, who recorded 19 Points and 11 Rebounds.
An underrated part of FAU’s win came from the breakout performance of Tre Carrol. After Giancarlo Rosado was sidelined with an undisclosed injury, Carrol moved into the rotation as Vlad Goldin’s sub. Carrol took advantage of the situation, recording 11 Points and 2 Rebounds off the bench.
The Owls will advance to the ESPN Events Invitational Semifinal and face Texas A&M on Friday, November 24. Tip off is slated for 11 A.M.
