The second annual Sandstorm game commenced on Feb. 10 at 9 p.m. Florida Atlantic University’s men’s basketball team (14-10, 7-4 AAC) met up with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers (9-16, 2-10AAC). The Owls 87-75 domination marked their fourth consecutive win and pushed them to fourth in the American Athletic Conference. 

“I’m thrilled with tonight. I think there’s some things defensively that we could be better at, but I don’t think you can underestimate what it was like to play at Tulsa, turn around and fly back and then get ready for a nine o’clock game,” said head coach John Jakus. “We’re going to decide on film what was good and what was bad, but at least offensively, our shot carried us tonight.” 

All who attended were given free “Sandstorm” t-shirts, just like last year. On Feb. 23, 2024, the first Sandstorm game was played against Southern Methodist University and FAU won 80-70. 

The teams met up once prior this season in Charlotte on Jan. 8, where FAU came away with a 75-64 win over the 49ers. FAU is averaging 81 points per game and 37.3 rebounds, while Charlotte is averaging 71.1 points and 31.9 rebounds. 

In their first matchup, former FAU player and current Charlotte forward Giancarlo Rosado had 14 points. He’s averaging 11.5 points per game and six rebounds. Rosado’s talent has grown with the 49ers, in his last year with FAU he averaged 4.8 points per game and three rebounds. 

Charlotte took the first point of the game with a three pointer from guard Nik Graves but the Owls guard Leland Walker went down to connect with forward Tre Carroll, bringing FAU their first points, 3-2. 

The game didn’t sell out but FAU’s student section was packed and rowdy. They came to the game with the same level of energy that was once present in Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena for last year’s team. 

A special guest was in attendance for the game: Michael Forrest. 

Forrest was a part of the 2022-23 team that made it to the Final Four. During his career, he racked up many accomplishments including being FAU’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made with 305 and second leading scorer, 1,619 points. 

After two free throws by center Baba Miller, the Owls entered a 6-0 scoring run to take their first lead of the game 18-15. Later on, they began another 6-0 run from guard Kyky Tandy making back-to-back three-pointers, 27-24. 

“I’m just trusting my work, just putting the work in, like I said coach gave me the confidence to shoot it so I’m gonna shoot it. But I’m making it now and I just gotta keep going,” said Tandy. 

Moretti poked the ball out of Charlotte’s possession and guard Kaleb Glenn took off with the ball, driving down for a dunk that electrified the fans, 38-33. 

After that play, gameplay intensified as Charlotte turned the ball over six times in two minutes, giving the Owls multiple fast break opportunities. FAU took advantage of the errors and went on a 13-0 run in three minutes. 

At halftime, FAU led 46-37 and shot 53% from the field and 44% beyond the arc, with 13 rebounds. The 49ers were 52% from the field and 54% beyond the arc and 14 rebounds. The main turning point was Charlotte having 11 turnovers compared to FAU’s four. 

On back-to-back plays, Walker connected with center Matas Vokietaitis under the rim. With his 7-foot stature, Vokietaitis easily dunked both in, 59-43. The assists pushed Walker to his fourth with 13 minutes left of game-play. For the season he leads the team with an average of 4.2 assists per game and he finished with seven assists against the 49ers. 

“I think Leland, while we were slowly becoming a player led team instead of a coach led team, was the loudest voice so we’re really thankful for that. He’s pushed our guys to talk more,” said Jakus. “You can actually hear them talk on defense on the other end, away from us, which wasn’t the case a couple weeks ago and he’s been the spearhead of that at practice.” 

The Owls continued to maintain their double-digit lead for the remainder of the game. Their largest lead was 19 points with 7:09 left in the half. 

With four minutes left, FAU guard Devin Vanterpool entered the game. Off a stolen ball, he tried to throw in a layup but missed. Glenn reacted instantly and slammed down a tip-in dunk, holding onto the rim momentarily to smile at fans, 85-67. 

Charlotte started to come back slightly but the time elapsed and FAU came away with their 87-75 win. 

The Owls finished the game shooting 54% from the field,  48% from 3-point range and 31 rebounds. Charlotte decreased to 47% from the field, 8% from three and 28 rebounds.

FAU heads back on the road to play Temple University 14-10 (6-5 AAC), on Feb. 16 at 12 p.m. 

Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories email her at mbruinsma2022@fau.edu or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or X @MeganBruinsma.