No. 17 Florida Atlantic pulls away late, tops East Carolina in AAC opener
By TIM REYNOLDS
BOCA RATON — Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin each scored 20 points and No. 17 Florida Atlantic shook off a slow start to beat East Carolina 79-64 on Tuesday night in the Owls’ debut American Athletic Conference game.
Bryan Greenlee scored 13 off the bench and Vladislav Goldin finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds for the Owls (11-3, 1-0). FAU went on a 14-0 run in the closing minutes, turning a two-point lead into a 16-point edge with 30 seconds left.
Brandon Johnson scored 15 for East Carolina (7-7, 0-1), while Quentin Diboundje added 13 before departing with a lower extremity injury with 5:31 remaining. RJ Felton had 12 for the Pirates, who missed their last eight shots.
East Carolina has now lost 75 of its last 78 games against ranked opponents — and is 0-57 in such games on the road.
A 12-2 run turned a three-point deficit into a 52-45 lead for FAU with 12:15 left. East Carolina simply wouldn’t go away, making it a one-possession game — down by three points or less — on six separate occasions in the next seven minutes.
But six straight FAU points, a mini-burst where Greenlee made a 3-pointer and then found Goldin for a 5-footer, gave the Owls what was then their biggest lead, 71-63 with 3:15 left, and they kept pulling away from there.
FAU trailed by as many as eight in the first half, though erased most of that deficit in just 7 seconds. Martin made a 3-pointer and as the shot from the right wing was in the air East Carolina’s Ezra Ausar shoved Goldin in the back. The foul gave the Owls an extra possession — and Martin hit another 3, cutting what was a 23-15 deficit to 23-21 on one trip down the floor.
An 8-0 run late in the half put FAU briefly back on top, before East Carolina took a 36-35 lead into the break.
BIG PICTURE
East Carolina: Tuesday marked only the second true road game of the season for the Pirates, who lost 81-59 at George Mason on Nov. 25. They opened with 11 of 13 at home, the road game at George Mason and a neutral-site 70-65 loss to Florida on Dec. 14. That game was played about two hours south of Gainesville, the Gators’ home.
Florida Atlantic: The last time the Owls lost consecutive games was the last two contests of the 2021-22 season, when they fell to UAB in the Conference USA tournament and Northern Colorado in the CBI event. FAU was 3-0 after losses last season (winning by an average of 19 points) and is now 3-0 after losses this season (winning by an average of 18 points).
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Florida Atlantic is trying to avoid joining the list of teams this season to go from No. 8 or higher in the rankings to out of the poll entirely. Michigan State was No. 4 in the preseason and was out by the time November ended. Miami and Creighton both reached No. 8 before tumbling out. The Owls were No. 7 last week before the loss to Florida Gulf Coast.
UP NEXT
Florida Atlantic: Visit Charlotte on Saturday.