BOCA RATON, Fla. (2/9/08) ? The Arkansas State men's basketball team mounted a furious rally, but was unable to overcome a slow start and complete its comeback in an 87-81 setback to Sun Belt Conference East Division foe Florida Atlantic Saturday night at FAU Arena.

The Indians, playing their third game in six days, dropped to 9-15 overall and 4-9 in Sun Belt play, while the Owls improved to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in league action with their fourth consecutive victory.

ASU shot just 38 percent in the opening half and fell behind 33-11 after 12 minutes of action, but outscored FAU 21-9 the rest of the first half to pull within 42-32 by the intermission period.  The Indians improved their shooting percentage to 56 percent in the second half and continued to slice into FAU's lead, cutting their deficit to just four points with 11:12 left in the game.

Down by nine points, 55-46, at the 14:34 mark of the second half, ASU went on a 7-2 run over the next four minutes to make the score 57-53.  However, the Owls responded with a 10-4 run to reclaim a double-figure advantage that they held almost the rest of the game.

The indians' Shawn Morgan completed a three-point play with a free throw at the 1:47 mark that made the score 83-76, but the ASU couldn't get any closer the rest of the way.

“A lot of things went wrong for us in the first six to seven minutes and we dug ourselves such a hole, but I'm so proud of the way we played hard and were able to battle back,” said ASU Head Coach Dickey Nutt.  “I think some guys really played well and everybody that played tonight did some good things, but we just couldn't stop them when we needed to make some stops.”

ASU had four players score in double figures, led by Ryan Wedel's game-high 23 points that included a career-tying six treys.  Morgan finished with 13 points, Kewain Gant with 12 and Adrian Banks with 10, while Larry Handy added a career-high eight points for the Indians.

Morgan also recorded four assists, four steals, and seven rebounds, all team highs.  Gant pulled down six rebounds and Handy a career-high four for ASU, which was outrebounded 35-28 by FAU.

Arkansas State posted two more steals and committed six less turnovers than FAU, but the Owls finished with a .549 field goal percentage to the Indians' .475.  ASU hit 10-of-22 shots from beyond the arc for a .455 percentage, while FAU made 8-of-14 for a .571 mark.

Paul Graham came off the bench to score 18 points, leading five FAU players scoring in double figures.