Senior Alex Tyus (St. Louis, Mo.) recorded a season-high19 points and seven rebounds to lead the Gator men’s basketball team to a 79-66 victory over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The win improved Florida to 4-1 and dropped Florida Atlantic to 3-3 on the season.
Tyus was 6-of-8 from the field and shot 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Sophomore Kenny Boynton (Pompano Beach, Fla.) also contributed with 21 points and two assists, while junior Erving Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) finished with 14 points, six rebounds, five steals and four assists. Senior Vernon Macklin (Portsmouth, Va.) added a career-high 11 rebounds and three blocks in the win.
Neither team led by more than four in the first half. The Gators led 34-32 at the half after shooting 41.4 percent from the floor (12-of-29) and finished the game at 44.8 percent (26-of-58), while limiting Florida Atlantic to 42.1 percent (24-of-57) on the night.
Florida outscored the Owls in the paint 36-18 and held them to four second-chance points, while tallying 18 of its own. The Gators defense forced 11 Florida Atlantic turnovers, giving them an average of 16.3 turnovers in their four wins this season.
Greg Gantt and Raymond Taylor led Florida Atlantic in scoring with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Florida faces its first road test when it travels to Tallahassee, Fla. to take on Florida State on Sun, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on Sun Sports.
