BOCA RATON, FL - The opportunity to close the season strong begins this week as FAU returns home for Atlantic Sun Conference action.

Three consecutive losses have dropped the Owls (9-10 overall) to 8-4 in conference play, one game behind first-place Lipscomb. The toughest portion of the A-Sun schedule - which included the weekend road trip to Nashville - ended with two losses to the Bisons and one to Belmont.

FAU will make a run at Lipscomb and the regular season crown by facing teams against whom the Owls were 7-1 in the first round of conference play. The only loss among those eight opponents was a 63-61 defeat at East Tennessee on Jan. 4.

DeAndre Rice is pacing the Owls with 18.1 points per game, while Rodney Webb contributes 14.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Carlos Monroe, coming off his first start of the season, buckets 12.5 points per game and leads the team with 58.8% shooting from the field.

Campbell Preview

The Owls welcome Campbell on Thursday evening, Feb. 2 at 7:00 p.m. FAU dominated the first 30 minutes in North Carolina, leading by as many as 21 points in a 97-88 victory.

Kevin Green scored a career-high 22 points against the Camels and three other Owls hit double figures. Fred Marshall collected 10 rebounds and Brent Crews had six of FAU's season-high 22 assists.

FAU shot 66.0% from the field, its highest percentage of the season. The Owls led 57-41 at the end of the first half.

Jake Wohlfeil led the Camels (8-12, 7-6 A-Sun) with 20 points and 6-of-7 from three-point range. Campbell forced 22 FAU turnovers and shot 50.7% from the field.

Maurice Latham is third in conference play at 18.8 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Diego Aguiar shoots 62.5% from the field for a team that went 0-20 in the A-Sun one year ago and now finds itself just two games out of being in a tie for second place.

Gardner-Webb Preview

Gardner-Webb comes to Boca on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., looking to avenge at 72-51 loss on Jan. 15. The Bulldogs have won five consecutive outings since their last tip with the Owls.

FAU opened the trip to North Carolina by shooting 58.3% from the field and building a 46-31 advantage at halftime. DeAndre Rice scored 18 points and had four assists, while Rodney Webb collected 16 points and 10 rebounds.

FAU forced 18 turnovers and held the conference's top post duo - Simon Conn and Brian Bender - 16 points and 12 rebounds. The two came into the game averaging better than 30 points and 16 rebounds.

Three `Dogs had 11 points as GWU shot just 34.0% from the field. FAU held Gardner-Webb to 20 points in the second half, the second-best defensive half for FAU this year.

Conn leads GWU (11-9, 8-5 A-Sun) with 16.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in A-Sun games. The preseason favorite in the conference, the Bulldogs have struggled into sixth place with the next-to-last offensive unit in the A-Sun, averaging 68.8 points per game.