Boyd layup late gives Owls first NCAA win

COLUMBUS — Nicholas Boyd drove to the basket through traffic and converted a floater with 2.5 seconds left to make history for Florida Atlantic.

The play by the second-year guard off an inbounds pass from Johnell Davis will go down in Florida Atlantic lore as it secured the first NCAA Tournament win in school history, 66-65 over Memphis in a rugged, back-andforth game.

It was just the second trip to the tournament — and the first since 2002 — for the ninth-seeded Owls, who advanced to face a surprising opponent, No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson, in the second round of the East Region. The Knights knocked off top seed Purdue in one of the biggest upsets in March Madness history.

Coach Penny Hardaway’s eighth-seeded Tigers (26-9) had the ball and a one-point lead with 19 seconds left, but a steal by Brandon Weatherspoon and a subsequent jump ball — Hardaway argued his team had called timeout before the tie-up — gave the Owls (32-3) a chance.

Boyd said he implored coach Dusty May to let him take the go-ahead shot.

“In the timeout, I said, ‘Coach, I got it,’ ” Boyd said. “I don’t know why I was feeling that way, but I just said, ‘Coach, let me get the ball.’ I caught it in the corner. I was going to shoot the 3. He jumped for the shot fake. And Vlad [Goldin] had a great seal, allowed me to get to the rim. I just thought about finishing no matter what.”

The fifth-year coach was good with that.

“Also, we felt like Memphis was really going to key on Davis and [Alijah] Martin, our two leading scorers, our two first-team all-leaguers. So we thought we could use them as a decoy,” May said. “And Nick is a very talented scorer. He got space in the corner, had a lot of room to work.”

Hardaway chucked a water bottle in frustration after Memphis let the game slip away.

“Crazy game from start to finish,” he said. “It hurts more giving up a layup for the win. You work the whole year talking about defense, and hang your hat on defense, we needed one stop. Couldn’t get that one stop.”

Giancarlo Rosado scored 15 points to lead FAU, and Davis had 12.