FGCU loses early lead to NJIT

Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com

DUNK CITY, Fla. – The FGCU men’s basketball team (11-7, 2-0 A-Sun) let a big first-half lead get away against NJIT (9-9, 0-2 A-Sun), but the young and resilient Eagles clawed back in overtime to win their fifth in a row with an 82-78 decision Thursday night at Alico Arena.

FGCU led by as much as 21 late in the first half, and by eight with 1:30 remaining in regulation before NJIT – which was picked to finish third in the A-Sun preseason poll behind North Florida and FGCU – hit a pair of free throws with .4 seconds left to force overtime. The Highlanders looked poised to win their first-ever A-Sun contest as they built a three-point lead in the extra session, but FGCU closed the game on a 9-2 run and Zach Johnson rejected a potential game-tying layup with seven seconds left to ice the victory for the Eagles in front of 4,124 fans.

Redshirt junior Marc-Eddy Norelia tied the program’s Division-I single-season record with his seventh double-double as he led the team with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Redshirt freshmanJohnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) recorded his fifth-consecutive double-figure scoring outing with 16, redshirt senior Julian DeBose notched 15 points, sophomore Christian Terrell added 12 points and redshirt sophomore Antravious Simmons just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds to round out the quintet of double-figure scorers for the Eagles.

“We took the momentum away from ourselves, and NJIT did a real good job of getting on a role late and we looked a little discombobulated,” said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. “We didn’t start the overtime well, but we did a good job of fighting back to get a good win.”

That good win is actually FGCU’s second-best of the season in terms of the RPI as NJIT was the second-highest ranked A-Sun club, entering the game at 164. The Eagles’ previous-best victory in terms of RPI came over Atlantic 10 Conference member Massachusetts (146), 77-76.

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After going through warmups and being penciled into the official scorebook as a starter, redshirt junior Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) was scratched minutes before the game started as he re-agravated a right-leg issue which has been bothering him. Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) started in his place, and combined with a fast start by DeBose (Washington, D.C/Rice/St. John College HS), the Eagles raced out to a 20-10 lead 10 minutes in, with DeBose netting 12 of those points.

However, DeBose picked up his second foul shortly after and sat the rest of the half. It didn’t stop the undermanned Eagles, though, as the edge eventually swelled to 39-18 with three minutes left in the opening half. NJIT closed the half on an 11-2 run, with the lone FGCU points coming on a two-handed dunk by Johnson just before the halftime buzzer.

FGCU held a 41-29 halftime advantage, and the lead remained mostly in double figures throughout the second stanza until the closing minutes. Holding a 69-61 lead with 1:30 left in regulation, NJIT got its deficit all the way down to one, 70-69, with 16 seconds left. An FGCU turnover on the ensuing entry pass led to what looked to be a game-winning layup by NJIT, but Ky Howard‘s effort didn’t fall.

The Highlanders fouled DeBose, and he stepped to the line for two free throws with five seconds left. After making the first, he missed the second and freshman Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) tried to avoid contact in the backcourt, but was called for a foul with .4 seconds left about 70 feet from the hoop. NJIT’s Damon Lynn made the front end of the 1-and-1 and then the second to force overtime as Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS)received a full-court heave from freshman Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) and his 3-point effort was just wide.

In overtime, the Highlanders held a 76-73 lead with three minutes left, but the Eagles – who receive between 80-90 percent of their total points, rebounds and assists from non-seniors – fought back. With the score in favor of FGCU, 79-78, with 13 seconds remaining, Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) hit one of two free throws, and Howard put his head down the other way, driving to the hoop with aggression to try and force a second extra session. Johnson defended it perfectly, giving Howard just enough room to attempt the layup, but with his off left hand he swatted the Highlanders’ third-leading scorer to essentially lock up the contest before Terrell hit a pair of free throws with three seconds left.

Lynn led all scorers with 22 points for NJIT, while Terrence Smith added a double-double of 15 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. Howard finished with 16 points, Chris Jenkins came off the bench to tally 12 and Tim Coleman added 11 as the Highlanders from Newark also placed five in double-figure scoring.

After locking down on NJIT’s 33rd-ranked national 3-point attack in the first half, the Highlanders caught fire in the second half against FGCU’s 2nd-ranked national 3-point defense. NJIT connected at a 7-19 clip (36.8 percent) from deep in the final 20 minutes after going 3-12 (25 percent) in the first half. The Eagles, meanwhile, made four triples in the opening stanza and none the rest of the game.

With that poor shooting from deep in the second part of the game, FGCU – which even without Morant still had an advantage down low – turned its attention to the low blocks, scoring 20 of its 30 points in the paint in the second half and overtime, finishing with a 30-22 edge in that category. The Eagles have now scored at least 30 points in the paint in every game this year with the exception of Florida (26).

FGCU finished the contest with a 50-40 rebound edge, representing its third-highest rebound total of the year. The Eagles finished the night by shooting 43.8 percent (32-73) from the floor, while NJIT went 22-64 for a 40.6-percent rate.

Norelia matched the D-I single-season double-double record which had been held exclusively by Chase Fieler during his senior season in 2013-14. The southpaw – who has finished one rebound shy of three more double-doubles – is now just three double-doubles shy of breaking the all-time single-season program record of nine held by Robinson Tisme in the team’s inaugural 2002-03 campaign.

The Eagles are now 53-10 at Alico Arena since 2012-13, including a 10-3 mark this year. Additionally, versus A-Sun foes during the regular season since 2012-13, FGCU is now 25-2 at The Nest.

FGCU will conclude its six-game homestand on Saturday in the second game of a women’s and men’s doubleheader against USC Upstate (7-12, 1-1 A-Sun) at 7 p.m. The Spartans started the season 3-11, but had won four in a row until losing in overtime at Stetson, 89-86, Thursday night. The Spartans opened league play with a buzzer-beating tip-in at NJIT on Saturday.