FAU runs past FIU in Sun Belt opener

By Mario Sarmento
SPORTS EDITOR

After losing both regular season meetings to FIU, the FAU men’s basketball team was determined to get past the Panthers in the biggest game of the season.

“They were very focused, and when I walked in the locker room, they had eyes that were looking right through people, they really had a great look,” Owls coach Rex Walters said.

“I mentioned that and I said, ‘We’ve got to have that for 40 minutes’ and they did.”

FAU scored the game’s first six points and cruised to a 91-64 victory in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament Wednesday.

The Owls (15-17, 9-10 Sun Belt) will now play the No. 2 seed, Arkansas-Little Rock, in Mobile, Ala. at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the quarterfinals.

Carderro Nwoji led a balanced attack with 20 points, including 5-of-6 from three-point range.

As a team, the Owls made 67 percent (12-of-18) of their three-pointers.

“We just wanted to come out and play aggressive,” said Jeff Parmer, who came off the bench to score 12 points after coming down with the flu earlier in the week.

Brett Royster replaced him in the starting lineup and held his own against the FIU big men.

“Brett does a good job against bigger players,” Walters said.

FAU also negated the Panthers’ size advantage by staying with Nikola Gacesa and Russell Hicks on ball screens instead of showing, as they had in the earlier meetings.

Gacesa scored just 11 points and was a nonfactor, while Hicks scored all 18 of his points in the second half.

FAU also dominated the glass. After losing the rebounding battle 48-34 in their last meeting, the Owls outrebounded FIU 40-23 Wednesday.

Carlos Monroe, who had a double-double by halftime, finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the effort in the paint.

The Owls shot a blistering 59 percent from the field in the first half to build a 50-33 lead, and the defense suffocated the Panthers in the second half.

FIU shot just 37 percent for the game and could never get untracked.

FAU next faces an Arkansas-Little Rock team that beat them in their only meeting, 80-76 in Little Rock Jan. 27.

Now, the Owls try to turn the tables after their best overall performance of the season.