Jan. 22, 2003

BOCA RATON, FL - The Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team heads back on the road to face Georgia State University Thursday, January 23, in Atlanta. The game marks the first meeting between the two teams since last year's Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament championship game. The Owls won that game 76-75 to advance to their first NCAA Tournament.

The game begins at 7:00pm at the GSU Sports Arena and will be broadcast live on WLVJ 1040-AM and www.fausports.com.

FAU (5-12, 1-4 A-Sun) is coming off of a 71-64 victory Monday night against Stetson. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak. Jeff Cowans led FAU with 19 points while Nick Neumann scored a career-high 17 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Earnest Crumbley continues to lead the Owls with 16.4 points and is seven shy of reaching 1,000 for his career.

GSU enters the game 8-8 overall and 3-2 in the A-Sun North. The Panthers are coming off a 69-66 double-overtime victory at Belmont on Monday night. Nate Williams, this week's A-Sun Player-of-the-Week, is leading the team with 17.2 points per game. Lamont McIntosh is chipping in 13.6.

FAU trails the all-time series 13-6 but won two of three last season. That included a 90-77 victory at home and a 76-71 loss on the road before the dramatic victory in the A-Sun Tournament. FAU has never won at GSU, having lost all nine games it has played there.

The game is the first of two in three days for the Owls on the road as they continue on to Jacksonville State for a game Saturday night.