Nov. 13, 2000

Box Score

BOCA RATON, FL -

Three freshmen scored in double figures as Florida Atlantic University defeated Nova Southeastern University 93-73 in an exhibition contest Monday night in Boca Raton. Jeff Cowans led the Owls with 22 points while Daryl Dingle scored 20. Andy Platt led Nova Southeastern with 20 points.

Seven freshmen saw playing time for FAU with Cowans leading all scorers. Pierre Downing and Clay Fuller, also freshmen, each scored 10.

NSU jumped out to an early 11-7 lead before FAU came back with a 13-4 run that saw Cowans connect on a three-pointer to put FAU in front for good at 17-14 with 13:46 left in the half. The Owls built as much as a 14-point lead with 5:37 left in the first half before NSU closed on an 11-3 run to trail 43-37 at the intermission.

NSU continued to chip away at the FAU margin to begin the second half as the Knights pulled to within 58-57 with 10:21 left to play. That was as close as they would get as the Owls outscored the Knights 35-16 over the final 10:21.

Nick Neumann, one of two transfers who sat out last season for FAU, pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with his eight points. John Smart, a junior college transfer, scored nine points and had six rebounds. Smart, along with freshman Earnest Crumbley, led FAU with seven assists.

"We've been practicing for almost a month by ourselves and the guys were just waiting for this opportunity to finally show what they can do against other competition," said FAU head coach Sidney Green. "It was a true test for us, and I was just happy (our players) continued to execute and stay focused."

For the game, FAU shot 48-percent from the field while going 7-for-26 (.269) from three- point range. The Owls forced the Knights into 28 turnovers while committing 22. FAU outrebounded NSU 46-32.

Florida Atlantic will next host the University of Miami Saturday night at 7:45pm in its season-opener.