Courtesy of FGCU Athletics.
DUNK CITY, Fla. – For the fourth-straight time, the FGCU men’s basketball team (7-3) shot better than 57 percent from the floor as the Eagles placed five players in double-figure scoring and ran away to their sixth-straight victory with an 82-63 decision over FIU (3-7) Sunday night at Alico Arena.
For the sixth time this year, redshirt junior Brandon Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) led FGCU in scoring with 18 points. Junior Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) added 14 points, while redshirt senior Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) came off the bench to tally a season-high 13 points. Freshman RaySean Scott Jr. (Compton, Calif./Compton HS) and sophomore Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) both totaled 10 points as part of FGCU’s 42 bench points – the most versus a Division-I opponent this year.
Ranked #16 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll and inside the top 60 of the RPI, FGCU never trailed and led for all but 15 seconds – the opening quarter minute of the game – as the Eagles won their sixth in a row for the first time in non-conference D-I program history (since 2007-08).
FGCU entered the contest ranked 7th in the nation shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, and impressively increased that percentage yet again by connecting at a 58.2-percent clip (32-55). The efficient attack propelled the Eagles to another 80+ point performance as FGCU is now 29-3 under fourth-year head coach Joe Dooley when scoring at least 80 points.
“We got off to a good start and the guys really shared the ball well,” commented Dooley of his team passing out 18 assists, led by a game-high five from Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS). “Our tempo was good after about the first four minutes as we played a little bit faster than we had been. Our activity level on defense was a little bit better as well. Overall, it was a pretty good win with pretty good execution.”
The Eagles limited FIU to just 38.5-percent shooting (20-52), including a paltry 11.1 percent (2-18) from 3-point range as FGCU’s 12th-ranked national perimeter defense once again put on a show. The 63 points for the Panthers are the second-fewest FGCU has allowed against a D-I foe this year.
A Goodwin jumper opened the scoring as the Eagles raced out to an 11-0 start and were never seriously threatened from there. FGCU led by double figures most of the night, by as much as 27 in the 2nd half and didn’t allow FIU to get back into the contest – something that had happened in each of FGCU’s previous two games in which it had 17-point leads with about 10 minutes to play.
The win pushed the Eagles’ all-time D-I record (152-151) above .500 for the first time since they were 1-0 to start their inaugural 2007-08 season. It was also FGCU’s 11th-straight home win dating back to last year, which is now tied for the 17th-longest streak in the nation.
Over the last four games, FGCU has trailed for a total of exactly 2 minutes (0:00 vs. Ave Maria, 0:41 at Georgia Southern, 1:19 vs. Siena, 0:00 vs. FIU). In that same stretch, the Green and Blue have produced an astonishing 216 points in the paint (54 per game).
FGCU once again produced a balanced inside-out attack. In addition to the 46 paint points, the Eagles knocked down eight 3-pointers (8-18). The 44.4-percent rate from beyond the arc increased FGCU’s percentage as the Eagles entered the contest ranked 14th in the nation in 3-point percentage at 41.6.
Donte McGill led FIU with a game-high 25 points – including a 12-12 performance from the free throw line – and Michael Kessens added 14 points as the lone other double-figure scorer for the Panthers. Kessens – who entered the contest ranked 5th in the nation with 11.9 rebounds per game – finished five below that average as the Eagles dominated the glass to a tune of 39-23.
FIU had out-rebounded every single opponent this year, including #20 South Carolina, and entered the contest with a +8.9 rebound margin, but the Eagles controlled the paint, led by a game-high eight caroms from redshirt senior Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS).
The 19-point win was even more impressive for FGCU when considering the starting duo of Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) and Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) combined to score just two points. The two came into the game averaging 21.8 points per game.
The contest tipped off at 8:15 p.m. due to Alico Arena hosting a pair of FGCU commencement ceremonies at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. It was FGCU’s second game of a three-game-in-six-day stretch at home.
FGCU faces Georgia Southern (4-5) for the second time in 10 days on Tuesday night at 7 inside The Nest. The two sides met in Statesboro, Ga., last Sunday, with FGCU claiming an 85-82 win despite being up by 17 points late in the 2nd half. Georgia Southern dropped an 86-49 decision at Minnesota on Friday night in its only game between the two with the Eagles.
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