Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
NEWARK, N.J. – After connecting at a 52-percent clip from the floor in the first half, the FGCU men’s basketball team (15-12, 6-5 A-Sun) shot a season-low 24.1 percent in the second half as the Eagles dropped a pivotal Atlantic Sun Conference game at NJIT (16-11, 7-4 A-Sun) Saturday, 68-59.
Redshirt junior Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) broke the program’s single-season record with his 10th double-double as the 6-9 forward totaled 17 points and a game-best 11 rebounds. He was the lone FGCU player to reach double-figure points, with sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) coming off the bench to net nine.
Despite the loss, FGCU remains just one game out of 1st place in the A-Sun standings as once again both league leaders North Florida and Jacksonville dropped road contests at Lipscomb and Kennesaw State, respectively. NJIT moves into a tie for 1st with the Ospreys and Dolphins, and the Highlanders will play at UNF and JU next week.
The Eagles, meanwhile, are now tied for 4th with Lipscomb as the Bisons visit Alico Arena on Thursday night at 7. FGCU and Lipscomb are both one game clear of Kennesaw State (5-6), while Stetson and USC Upstate are tied for last at 3-8 in a wide-open A-Sun race with three regular-season games remaining.
FGCU led by as much as eight in the first half, and never trailed in the opening 20 minutes as the two sides hit halftime knotted at 31-31. The Highlanders – playing in front of a near sold-out crowd on Senior Night – opened up a seven-point lead, 40-33, early in the second half, but the Eagles responded and tied the game at 44-44.
However, NJIT had its own counter-punch as the preseason 3rd selection in the A-Sun poll behind UNF and FGCU responded with a 7-0 run to open up a 51-44 edge. From there, the Green and Blue wasn’t able to get any closer than five the rest of the day as FGCU finished with its third-fewest point total of the season.
“We had several good looks that didn’t go down in the second half, and we missed three in a row at the free-throw line late in the game,” commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley of the Eagles making 1 of 2 from the stripe three-straight times in the closing minutes. “We also took some bad shots where a few times we came down in transition and didn’t make an extra pass to set up an easy look.”
Freshmen Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) and Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) both came off the bench to finish with eight points. Reid had totaled eight points in his previous seven games, and tied a season high by making two 3-pointers – both of which came in the opening minutes of the game.
NJIT was led by a double-double performance of 21 points and 10 rebounds from senior Ky Howard. Tim Coleman just missed a double-double with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Damon Lynn also added 16 points for the Highlanders, who have now won a league-high five in a row.
FGCU committed just seven turnovers – the eighth single-digit turnover game of the year, tying a program single-season record set last year. However, the Eagles – who entered the contest out-scoring their A-Sun opponents by 13.5 points per game in the paint – were out-scored by a season-high 16, 32-16, representing the first time all year FGCU hasn’t totaled at least 30 points in the paint in a game.
The Eagles finished the contest shooting 37 percent from the field (20-54), and were uncharacteristically out-rebounded, 39-30. FGCU also struggled from the free-throw line, going just 13-22 (59.1 percent).
FGCU returns home for its final homestand of the regular season next week. The Eagles will first face Lipscomb on Thursday at 7 p.m. before Kennesaw State visits for Senior Night on Saturday at 7.
Leave a Reply