Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Owls keep rolling, move into Elite 8
NEW YORK — When the horn sounded on the greatest victory in the history of Florida Atlantic athletics, Nick Boyd and Bryan Greenlee hopped onto the pressrow table to celebrate.
Instead of going to the locker room, some of the Owls players made their way up into the stands to sing “New York, New York” with their fans.
The Boca Raton-based school that has only been competing in Division I for the last 30 years, and had just one previous appearance in the NCAA Tournament, is now a victory away from making the Final Four.
The Owls used a second-half push led by Blanche Ely High School graduate Michael Forrest to upset fourth-seeded Tennessee 62-55 on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.
Ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic (34-3) will play third-seeded Kansas State in the East Region final at Madison Square Garden, tipping off at 6:09 p.m. on Saturday.
“Yeah, our guys definitely feel like they belong on this stage,” fifth-year coach Dusty May said.
Even before the tournament started, this was the unquestionably the greatest season in FAU history.
Now the Owls are one of the biggest stories in all of sports.
“We’re just a scrappy group,” Boyd said. “Unbreakable.”
Johnell Davis led the Owls with 15 points, with 13 in yet another big second half for FAU’s leading scorer, and Forrest finished with 11, eight in a crucial 18-2 secondhalf run where FAU went from a 39-33 deficit with 12:51 left to a 51-41 lead with 6:10 remaining.
Davis has averaged 15.3 points per second half in the Owls’ three tourney games.
The Volunteers (25-11), who were looking for the second Elite Eight appearance in program history, shot just 33% — including 6 of 23 from 3-point range. Josiah-Jordan James and Jonas Aidoo scored 10 points apiece.