Johnell Davis had 17 points and six assists and Alijah Martin added 16 points and seven rebounds as No. 24 Florida Atlantic thwarted an upset bid from visiting Temple for an 80-68 victory Thursday in Boca Raton, Fla.
Brandon Weatherspoon also scored 16 points while Vladislav Golden and Nick Boyd each scored 12 as Florida Atlantic (20-5, 10-2 AAC) won for the ninth time in 10 games and improved to 10-1 at home.
Florida Atlantic shot 49.1 percent from the floor compared to Temple’s 42.1 shooting and won the rebounding battle 36-33.
Jordan Riley had 19 points and six rebounds and Sam Hofman added 12 points as Temple (8-17, 1-11) lost its 10th straight game. Hysier Miller added 10 points and five assists as Temple fell to 2-7 in true road games.
It was the first meeting between the programs, each of which is nicknamed Owls.
Trailing 45-34 at halftime after falling behind by as many as 17 points in the first half, Temple rallied to pull within 53-49 with 15:22 remaining thanks to a 9-3 run, which was capped by Matteo Piccarelli’s layup.
Florida Atlantic pushed the advantage to 60-51 with 9:29 remaining before Temple pulled within a basket at 60-58 after a second-chance dunk by Riley.
Weatherspoon scored five consecutive points to give Florida Atlantic a 65-58 lead with 6:53 remaining. After two Temple free throws, Davis went on a personal 7-0 run to increase the cushion to 72-60 with 3:55 left and Florida Atlantic closed out the victory from there.
Temple delivered the first basket of the game on a 3-pointer from Picarelli and led by as many as four points in the early going. Florida Atlantic moved in front at 12-11 with 15:11 remaining in the first half and used a 25-10 run to take a 30-16 lead.
Boyd led Florida Atlantic with 12 in the opening half, while Riley had eight for Temple.
–Field Level Media