Season low point total highlights 66-51 fall to George Mason

In the midst of a tough road swing, Florida Atlantic dropped its third straight today in a 66-51 loss to George Mason at the Patriot Center.

The point total was the lowest tallied by the Owls so far on the young season, as Florida Atlantic (3-4) shot a balmy 4-of-17 from long range.

Knotted up in a 7-7 tie, FAU hung close early on but soon went cold thereafter. A Greg Gantt three broke a 3:30 scoring drought for the Owls and trimmed a double digit Patriots margin to 17-10.

“We were never in the game”, said coach Mike Jarvis. “We never made them work, and they had a good time out there today.”

Gantt (15) and Kore White (11), were the lone Owls in double figures. White added seven rebounds and three blocks to his best all around performance thus far in regular season play.

The Patriots (4-2) shot lights out at 57.7% overall in the first frame - building a 34-23 lead at the break - and produced a stifling defensive effort.

Despite out rebounding GMU 32-31, for the second straight contest the Owls had no defensive presence in the front court. Patriots’ big man Mike Morrison poured in a game high 18 points, eight of which were off dunks.

Florida Atlantic gave up a 22-40 deficit in post scoring, as Brett Royster fouled out for the second time in just as many games with 9:43 remaining.

After primarily using a seven man rotation against UF last Tuesday, Jarvis tapped his bench utilizing 11 players.

“Ive got to find out which guys who can play at this level. Right now the list isn’t as long as I would like”, said Jarvis.

George Mason built their largest lead of the game at 66-49 with 2:56 to play before Gantt made the last bucket of the game; producing the final score.

Shavar Richardson saw a return today after being sidelined with a foot injury, finishing scoreless in five minutes of action on 0-of-3 shooting.

The Owls conclude their three game road trip, taking on SEC opponent Mississippi State, this Tuesday at 8:00 p.m.

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