For the first time this season, on Feb. 16, the Florida Atlantic University Owls (15-10, 8-4 AAC) traveled to play the Temple University Owls (14-12, 6-7 AAC) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the Liacouras Center. 

Despite holding a 10-1 prior winning record at home, Temple fell short and FAU won with an end score of 83-81. Temple’s defeat today moved them to fourth in the American Athletic Conference after being in fifth position this past week. 

Both teams entered the game with high stakes. FAU had won their last four games and Temple was on a three game losing streak. In the end, FAU kept their winning streak alive, extending it to five consecutive wins.

“I know some people say winning five in a row is a good thing, but I think at the end of the day, you can see it just came down to winning one game on one day,” said head coach John Jakus.

The energy of the game started off in Temple’s favor. Although FAU won the tip off, Temple forward Steve Settle lll stole the ball and dunked to make the first points of the game. FAU guard Leland Walker responded with a basket making it an even 2-2. 

A flagrant call was called on FAU center Matas Vokietaitis where Temple forward Babatunde Durodola was awarded two free throw shots, which were made, resulting in Florida Atlantic losing their lead 13-12. 

FAU showed fast transitioning on both sides of the ball but struggled to put up points when shooting threes. During the first half, Florida Atlantic made two of 16 three-point attempts, while Temple made three of seven.

At halftime, Florida Atlantic went into the locker room trailing Temple 35-38. The biggest concern for FAU going into halftime was their turnover struggles. In the first half, FAU turned over seven balls, while Temple had only three. This momentum showed in the way the players moved about the court. 

Florida Atlantic was shooting 36% from the field, 13% from the three, and 81% from the free throw line. While Temple shot 39% from the field, 43% from the three, and 75% from the free throw line.

FAU came onto the court after halftime slow on offense. However, FAU forward Tre Carroll came up with a few big blocks on the glass to slow down the Temple Owls offensive momentum.

Temple made their largest lead of the game ahead by seven with 13:56 minutes left. They continued to dominate the game ultimately going on a 9-0 run resulting in FAU calling a time out. 

Out of the timeout, FAU came back with a new sense of playing style. FAU forward Kaleb Glenn shot back to back threes within 37 seconds, which closed the gap to three points, 61-58.

“Those threes were big in terms of game momentum for us and I felt like when we hit those threes the game changed for us and we had all the confidence,” says Glenn. 

Glenn led the FAU Owls with scoring, he had 17 points, five rebounds and one assist. He also leads the team with scoring on the season, averaging 12.6 points per game. 

Florida Atlantic went on a 8-0 run in the last two minutes of the game to secure a one-point lead. It was FAU’s first lead since the score was 29-28. 

During a competitive fight for the ball with 18.9 seconds left, a review for who touched the ball last occurred. The refs went into a seven minute review, allowing the team to come up with their strategies to finish the game. After close consideration, the call was reversed in Florida Atlantic’s favor and allowed them to have the ball to control the remainder of the game. 

“I’m just thrilled with the fact that at North Texas we couldn’t do it, at Tulane we couldn’t do it and today we could do it. We have learned our lesson,” Jakus said.

By the end of the game, FAU increased their shooting to 44.6% from the field and 20.8% from the three. Temple shot 41.5% from the field and 40% beyond the arc. A large difference came from rebounding, FAU coming down with 41 over Temple’s 35. 

Florida Atlantic will be hosting Wichita State University (15-10, 5-7 AAC) on Feb. 20 at 9 p.m. 

Emily Harper is a contributing writer for the University Press. For more information on this article, you can reach her at emilyharper2022@fau.edu.