BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball team continues its slide, dropping a fourth-straight game 78-76 to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Feb. 4 in what turned out to be a wild finish.
Isaiah Elohim’s game-winning three-point attempt was no good as time expired, handing FAU (14-10, 6-5) a crushing defeat for the second-straight game, this time against the top team in the American Conference.
Niccolo Moretti scored a career-high 25 points and dished out 5 assists starting in place of injured Kanaan Carlyle. Elohim added 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his first-career double-double. David Green had a game-high 27 points for Tulsa (20-3, 8-2).
“Two heartbreakers at home, but in both situations, I thought we should have done enough to win,” FAU coach John Jakus said.
The Owls will have a week off before getting back to action on Feb. 11 for a road matchup against Rice.
Elohim has two chances to come up clutch, misses both
Against East Carolina earlier this week, it was Josiah Parker who missed the timely free throws in the closing seconds to seal the Owls’ fate. This time, it was Isaiah Elohim.
With the Owls down 78-75 with six seconds remaining, Devin Vanterpool was able to come away with a steal on the inbounds pass and he found Elohim in the corner. Elohim was fouled on his three-point attempt, sending him to the line with a chance to tie the game.
Elohim missed two of the three free throws, giving Tulsa a two-point lead and possession with three seconds left. Amazingly, he stole the inbounds pass, and had a clean look from the left corner with a chance to win the game.
No good.
“I’m heartbroken for the kids,” Jakus said. “I know people don’t understand this, but when you miss at the end, everybody thinks that’s the issue. The kids are doing the best they can in those situations.”
Xander Pintelon commits costly technical foul
Perhaps no moment in the game mattered more than Xander Pintelon’s technical foul early in the second half.
With the Owls holding a 36-34 advantage through the first three minutes of the second half, Pintelon drove from the left corner and was fouled on his way to the basket by David Green. Pintelon responded by throwing the ball off of Green, resulting in a Class A technical foul.
Tulsa would convert both technical free throws to tie the game, then take the lead shortly after on a layup by Green. From there, Tulsa took control of the game by going on a 15-3 run. FAU went down by as much as 10. The Owls were able to claw back numerous times to tie the game, but they never grabbed the lead back.
Pintelon finished with 1 point and four fouls — including the technical — in eight minutes of action. He wouldn’t return to the game after being substituted following his technical. He has scored 4 points in his last four games.
“The frustration boiling over on the court is not acceptable,” Jakus said. “I really want to help him, I care about him. Some things he did tonight were unacceptable and were really a big part of that run. We’ll have to continue to communicate through that.”
Niccolo Moretti has big game in place of Kanaan Carlyle
With Kanaan Carlyle out against Tulsa due to a calf injury, the Owls were going to need big performances from their reserves to even have a chance against the first-place team in their conference.
Enter Niccolo Moretti, who enjoyed his best game in an FAU uniform. Moretti was 10-for-16 from the floor, knocking down two of his five three-point attempts, while scoring 25 points. He also recorded five assists.
Despite the loss, Moretti’s breakout game was a positive development for the Owls, especially if Carlyle is out for an extended period of time.
“We’re going to have to continue to build almost a new basketball team,” Jakus said, referring to Carlyle’s injury. “It’s very unfortunate that it’s happening in February, and the pain of that is certainly not great. But we will build around Nico moving forward.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FAU Owls continue late-season collapse with fourth-straight defeat