Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score |  Action Photos 

BOCA RATON, FL - Paul Graham III had 18 points and four of his teammates reached double figures in scoring leading Florida Atlantic past visiting Arkansas State 87-81 at the FAU Arena in Boca Raton Saturday night.

It was the sixth win in seven games for a resurgent Owl team that moved to 6-7 in Sun Belt Conference play after starting the year 1-7 overall.

Florida Atlantic (11-14) raced out to a 19-5 lead and never trailed. Jeff Parmer and Carlos Monroe each had 11 first-half points allowing FAU a ten-point advantage at the break, 42-32.

Ryan Wedel finished with 23 points for the visiting Indians (9-15), who have lost four straight.

With FAU leading 78-68 with 3:03 remaining, FAU junior guard Carderro Nwoji made one of the Owl's eight three-point baskets to seemingly put the game out of reach. Nwoji, a junior transfer from Redlands College in Kansas, has started every game for an FAU team that used 10 different starting lineups in the first 16 games of the year.

The Indians did stage a late rally. Fueled by a pair of three-pointers by Wedel, ASU closed the gap to 83-77 with 1:47 on the clock. But they were unable to complete the comeback, losing for the eleventh time in twelve tries this year on the road.

Saturday night's victory over Arkansas State was the sixth straight win at "The Burrow" for FAU. The Owls will play four of their last six remaining games at home, a stretch that begins when Longwood, an independent team from Farmsville, Virginia, visits South Florida for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off Monday night.