Johnell Davis had 24 points and 10 rebounds as No. 13 Florida Atlantic earned a 90-74 win over Charleston in the final game of the Field of 68 Tip-Off on Saturday evening in Boca Raton, Fla.
Vladislav Goldin contributed 17 points and 12 rebounds, Giancarlo Rosado scored 15 points off the bench and Alijah Martin finished with 13 points for the Owls (7-1), who have won five games in a row.
Reyne Smith scored 14 points for the Cougars before rolling his ankle with 14:49 left in the game and his team leading by three points.
Jordan Crawford scored 13 points and fellow reserve Ante Brzovic scored 12 for Charleston (4-4), which had won three games in a row.
Smith made a left-handed runner to give Charleston a 55-52 lead, but immediately collapsed to the floor clutching his ankle before being helped off by teammates.
The Owls scored the next five points to move ahead 57-55.
Charleston continued to struggle without Smith, missing 11 of 12 field-goal attempts while Florida Atlantic went on an 8-0 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 65-57 with 9:17 left.
The Owls took the first double-digit lead of the game for either team when Bryan Greenlee made a layup with 4:29 remaining for a 76-65 lead, and Charleston could not get back within single digits.
Florida Atlantic led 22-16 when the Cougars put together a 13-2 run to move ahead 29-24 with 6:15 remaining in the opening half.
During the run, Charleston coach Pat Kelsey had a verbal exchange with Florida Atlantic guard Brandon Weatherspoon and then opposing coach Dusty May, causing a delay in the action.
The Owls missed six straight free throws late in the half, allowing Charleston to extend its lead to as much as nine before the Cougars eventually took a six-point advantage into the half.
The Cougars shot 8-for-16 from 3-point distance in the first half, but 3-for-15 in the second.
Charleston got the lead back up to eight on a 3-pointer by Smith with 18:20 remaining in the game, but a 7-0 run by FAU cut it to 51-50 and Smith would go down shortly afterward.
–Field Level Media
