Southern Miss holds off Florida Atlantic for 77-66 win

Feb 4, 2018, 02:42 am

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Tyree Griffin scored 21 points, Dominic Magee added 16 more and Southern Miss held off Florida Atlantic in the second half for a 77-66 win Saturday night.

Southern Miss (12-12, 5-6 Conference-USA) closed out the first half with a 22-6 run that included a pair of 3-pointers from D'Angelo Richardson to take a 38-21 advantage into the break, but had to scramble in the second half as Florida Atlantic closed in. The Owls (10-13, 4-7) outscored Southern Miss 45-39 in the final 20 minutes and cut the deficit to 71-66 after a pair of free throws from William Pfister with 37 seconds left.

Cortez Edwards, who finished with 15 points, dropped in a layup at the other end to stretch the Southern Miss advantage back to seven and the Owls were held scoreless the rest of the way as the Golden Eagles sealed it from the free throw line, snapping a two-game skid.

Richardson had 10 points for Southern Miss, which shot 52 percent from the field, including 8 for 12 from 3-point range.

Payton Hulsey led FAU with 16 points, Gerdarius Troutman added 15, Justin Massey had 12. Pfister grabbed 12 rebounds to go with five points.