Edwards, Griffin lead SoMiss over Florida Atlantic 74-72

Feb 2, 2020, 06:18 pm

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Cortez Edwards had 22 points, six steals and five assists, Tyree Griffin scored 21 points, and Southern Mississippi held off Florida Atlantic 74-72 on Saturday.

Conference USA player of the week Leonard Harper-Baker had 10 points and eight rebounds for Southern Miss (14-9, 6-5). The Golden Eagles shot 58 percent from the field -- 70 percent on 2-point tries -- in winning their third straight conference game.

Florida Atlantic's Aleksandar Zecevic created the last of the game's eight ties, 69-all with 2:03 to go. The Owls did not score again until Anthony Adger made a layup and free throw to trail 73-72 with four seconds remaining. The Owls fouled LaDavius Draine with :03 to go. He missed the first and made the second for the final margin.

Adger led Florida Atlantic (13-10, 4-6) with 19 points, Xavian Stapleton added 18 points and Michael Forrest had 11.

In a game with few fouls (23 total), Southern Miss's only two missed free throws came in the final 29 seconds. The Golden Eagles were 7 of 9 from the line and FAU made 4 of 5.

Florida Atlantic made 14 of 36 3-pointers (39 percent) and Southern Miss went 7 for 19 (37 percent).