Middle Tennessee State 73, Florida Atlantic 56
Middle Tennessee State continued its roll through the Sun Belt Conference on Saturday night, racking up its ninth straight victory with a 73-56 victory over Florida Atlantic.
The Blue Raiders (20-4, 12-1) haven't lost since dropping an overtime decision at Arkansas State on Jan. 3. They lead the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt and have the best overall record in the conference.
The Owls (11-13, 6-7) were even with the Blue Raiders at 25-25 before Middle Tennessee scored the last six points of the first half to take the lead for good.
Florida Atlantic was within five points at 48-43 after Greg Gantt's layup with 10:26 remaining and still within reasonable range at 56-47 with 6:16 left before the Raiders began to pull away.
The visiting Raiders took their first double-digit lead since early in the first half at 18-8 when Marcos Knight dropped in two free throws with 5:57 remaining to make it 58-47.
Their biggest lead was 18 points at 67-49 and again at 72-54.
The Raiders shot 55.3 percent from the field and had four players score in double figures topped by Raymond Cintron's 16 points.
FAU's Stefan Moody, who picked up three fouls in the first half, led all scorers with 17 points.
