Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
DUNK CITY, Fla. – Christian Terrell drove the baseline and converted a tough, contested layup with 2.4 seconds remaining in overtime Friday night to give the FGCU men’s basketball team (3-3) an important non-conference win, 68-67, against Long Beach State (1-7) at Alico Arena.
With the Eagles trailing, 67-66, LBSU’s Justin Bibbins missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 15 seconds remaining. Rayjon Tucker grabbed the rebound, and with no timeouts FGCU quickly pushed the ball into the front court. Zach Johnson nearly lost control of the ball at the top of the arc, but recovered and fed a pass to the corner in front of the FGCU bench.
From there, Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) drove to his dominant left hand, around an LBSU defender, nearly had the ball stolen and then finished over two defenders – including 6-7 Temidayo Yussuf – for his first career game-winning shot in either high school or college.
The mid-major showdown featured two of the best teams in the nation, and lived up to its billing as FGCU entered the contest ranked #21 in this week’s CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, while LBSU was ranked #19. It’s now the second team ranked in the poll the Eagles have defeated this year, with the other being then-#5 UT Arlington, 85-72.
Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) finished with a game-high 21 points, including a career-high-tying four 3-pointers, as the redshirt sophomore surpassed the 20-point plateau for the second time this season. Making just his second appearance of the year after returning Wednesday from a broken hand, Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) tallied 10 points, a total matched by Brandon Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./Norcross HS).
Long Beach State – playing its second game in as many days and third in four days on opposite sides of the country – took a five-point lead in overtime, and after a missed Johnson layup with 1:39 remaining in the extra session looked poised to pick up the win. However, the Eagles continued to battle on a challenging evening, and Terrell hit an off-handed floater with 57 seconds remaining to make it a 67-64 LBSU lead.
After a defensive stand, Johnson threw an alley-oop to Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) to pull FGCU within one, 67-66, with 25 seconds left. On the ensuing 49ers’ possession, the Eagles forced a jump ball with 21 seconds showing, but the arrow was in favor of LBSU. Goodwin then fouled Bibbins with 15 seconds remaining, sending the 90-percent free throw shooter on the year and 83-percent career shooter, to the stripe. However, the junior’s effort came up short off the front rim, propelling the Eagles the other way and setting up Terrell’s heroics.
“It seemed like we were on our heels all night,” commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, whose team was playing its fifth game in 10 days. “We weren’t sharp, and part of that was due to their aggressiveness. We had bad shot selection, and coupled with 18 turnovers that’s a recipe for disaster and it almost cost us.”
FGCU got out to a 12-7 lead nine minutes into the contest, but LBSU slowly chipped away and used an extended 14-2 run to take a seven-point advantage, 21-14, with just more than four minutes remaining in the half. The Eagles – who shot 43.5 percent from the floor in the 1st half but turned the ball over nine times – were able to claw within three at the break, 30-27.
The Eagles reclaimed their first lead since 12-11 at the 10-minute mark of the 1st half when Norelia blocked a shot at one end and finished a fastbreak two-handed dunk at the other to give the Eagles a 44-42 edge at the 15:34 mark of the 2nd half. However, Long Beach State – the preseason Big West Conference favorite which has played the third-hardest schedule in the nation to this point – responded and held a 60-57 lead with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
That lead was completely erased thanks to Terrell, who first converted a layup with 1:20 left to pull the Green and Blue within one, 60-59, and he then converted a free throw with 28 ticks showing to knot the contest at 60-60 and force overtime. The OT triumph was the first since FGCU’s ASUN Championship victory over Stetson in March, 80-78.
Terrell posted another solid all-around game with nine points, a game- and career-high-tying seven assists and just one turnover. For the game, the Eagles shot 43.6 percent (24-55) from the field, and overcame a season-low 30-percent showing from 3-point range (6-20) to pick up what will likely be a quality win by the time the season is over.
LBSU has played a brutal schedule to start the year, including games at Wichita State, Louisville, North Carolina, UCLA and Washington. The contest with the Huskies occurred on Tuesday night, and LBSU played Binghamton on Thursday in Fort Myers. The 49ers won 20 games last year and played in the NIT and return a majority of their letterwinners from that team.
Gabe Levin led the 49ers with 18 points, while Yussuf added 15 and Bibbins – a Lou Henson Award Watch List member (best mid-major player in the nation; Norelia also on the list) – finished with 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds. The Eagles held LBSU to just 38.5 percent (25-65) from the floor, including a 20.8-percent clip (5-24) from 3-point range.
FGCU will finally enjoy a few days between games before returning to Alico Arena to face local NAIA member Ave Maria on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 7 p.m.
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