Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
KENNESAW, Ga. – On the strength of a career-high 19 points from freshman Rayjon Tucker, the FGCU men’s basketball team (13-7, 4-0 A-Sun) again staked itself to a double-figure first-half lead and held on to earn a road Atlantic Sun Conference win with a 79-74 decision over Kennesaw State (5-15, 1-3 A-Sun) Thursday night.
Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) made 5-6 free throws in the final 5:10 of the game (3-4 in the closing 25 seconds and 7-8 on the night), went 5-7 from the floor and 2-2 from 3-point range and led a quintet of double-figure scorers for the Eagles, who won their seventh in a row overall, ninth consecutively versus Kennesaw State and matched the 2013-14 team for the best A-Sun start in program history.
Sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) netted 16 points for FGCU, redshirt freshman Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) tallied 15 and redshirt sophomore Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) and redshirt juniorMarc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) each totaled 10 as the Eagles placed five players in double-figure scoring for the third time in five games.
The youthful but talented Eagles had 70 of their 79 points come from non-seniors and 60 of their 79 come from either freshmen or sophomores. FGCU built a 42-32 halftime lead, extended the advantage to as much as 14 on multiple occasions early in the second half and didn’t allow Kennesaw State – playing in front of its largest home crowd of the season (1,809) – to get closer than four the rest of the night.
“In spurts we did some good things and we had the opportunity to create some separation if we had made more free throws,” commented third-year FGCU head coach Joe Dooley of the Eagles’ 12-24 free-throw performance. “That was bothersome, and at the end we gave up way too many easy shots, but in the end guys made plays – especially the young guys Zach and Rayjon – to stem the tide and get the win.”
Playing without 6-9 forward Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) for the third-straight game as he recovers from a muscle bruise in his right leg, FGCU had little trouble controlling the paint against the under-sized Owls. The Eagles finished with a 48-28 edge in paint points and a 39-28 edge on the glass, which helped lead to a 14-6 advantage for the Green and Blue in second-chance points. Dating back to 2011-12, FGCU is now 34-1 when holding at least a +15 edge in paint points, and under Dooley the Eagles are now 47-5 when out-rebounding their opposition.
FGCU opened the game with six unanswered points and had a 7-2 lead before Kennesaw State – which had scored 100 points in each of its past two home games – responded with an extended 15-7 run to take a 17-14 lead. Trailing 19-17, Terrell spearheaded an 11-0 FGCU run which was capped by a Tucker baseline 3-pointer to put the Eagles in front, 28-19, and ultimately for good the rest of the evening. The lead eventually got back as high as 11, 37-26, following another Tucker 3-pointer before the Eagles settled for the 10-point halftime lead.
Halftime leads under Dooley have bode well for FGCU as the Eagles are now an emphatic 45-3 since 2013-14 when holding the edge at the break. KSU tried to alter that trend and had its deficit down to four, 57-53, midway through the second half, but a quick 5-0 spurt by the Eagles pushed their lead back to nine. The Owls again threatened and trimmed the deficit to five, 68-63, with less than five minutes remaining, but a 6-0 retaliation by FGCU opened up an 11-point margin, 74-63, and Tucker made free throws when they mattered most down the stretch to seal the win.
Kendrick Ray tallied 31 points for Kennesaw State – tied for the most points FGCU has allowed an opposing player to score this year – as he went 12-17 from the floor and 3-4 from the 3-point line while playing the entire 40 minutes. Fellow backcourt scoring mate Yonel Brown added 20 points as both players entered the game averaging exactly 17.6 points per game. Nick Masterson was the lone other KSU player to reach double-figure points with 10 as the Owls shot 49.2 percent (29-59) from the floor against FGCU’s league-leading defense and 47.1 percent (8-17) from 3-point range – the highest FGCU has allowed this year – versus the Eagles’ second-ranked national perimeter defense.
As for FGCU, the Eagles continued their torrid shooting from the floor as they finished the game 52.5 percent (31-59) from the floor – the third time already in A-Sun action they’ve shot at least 52 percent in a game. The fast start in the opening 20 minutes was again jumpstarted by a 56.7-percent clip (17-30) from the floor as FGCU has shot at least 55 percent in the first half of every A-Sun game so far this season.
Norelia finished one rebound shy – for the fourth time this year – of reaching a double-double as he secured a game-high nine caroms. The double-double would have broken a tie for the Division-I program single-season record of seven currently shared with Chase Fieler in 2013-14.
The winning streak over Kennesaw State is the longest over any A-Sun team for FGCU. The seven-game winning streak is now tied with a pair of runs by the 2012-13 Sweet Sixteen team for the second-longest in D-I program history, bested only by a 10-game streak in conference play last year.
Additionally, with a loss Thursday night by the Stony Brook women, FGCU is the only school in the nation that now has both its men’s and women’s basketball teams riding winning streaks of at least seven games (FGCU women, 8).
FGCU keeps pace with North Florida as the only undefeated teams in the A-Sun as the Ospreys moved to 5-0 in league play Thursday night with a 78-62 win at USC Upstate. FGCU and UNF have created a 2- and 2 1/2-game cushion, respectively, atop the league standings already as both NJIT and Jacksonville are tied for third with 2-2 conference marks.
The Eagles will look to extend their A-Sun record to 5-0 and win their eighth in a row overall on Saturday when they visit Lipscomb for a 5 p.m. Eastern tip. The Bisons are 5-16 overall and 1-3 in the A-Sun, but picked up their first league victory Thursday night with a 92-87 triumph over Stetson.
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