Courtesy of FGCUAthletics.com
RUSTON, La. – His Twitter handle used to be @FloatinGoody, and Tuesday night inside one of the most challenging places to play in the nation, fans found out why as FGCU guard Brandon Goodwin hit a game-winning floater with 12 seconds left to propel the Eagles (8-5) to a huge 79-78 road win at Louisiana Tech (7-5).
Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) grabbed a critical offensive rebound off a missed free throw to set up Goodwin’s second career game-winning shot and first with the Eagles. FGCU reset its offense after Zach Johnson missed the back side of a 1-and-1, and from the top of the arc Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) drove down the lane to the right and pulled up for a one-handed floater from about 5 feet, finding nothing but net and handing LA Tech just its third home loss in its last 74 games.
LA Tech entered the contest with a dominant record of 71-2 at home since February of 2012. The 97.3 winning percentage over that time was the best in the nation, but now the 71-3 mark and 95.9 winning percentage is the 3rd-best in the country behind Arizona (80-3, 96.4) and Kansas (79-3, 96.3).
The Bulldogs had won their last 26 home non-conference games, but FGCU brought that to an end, and also stopped an active 13-game home winning streak, which was tied for the 12th-longest in the country.
Goodwin finished with a season-high-tying 26 points – the same total the redshirt junior posted in FGCU’s last game at La Salle – and also passed out a game-high-tying five assists. Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) recorded his fourth career double-double and second of the year with a career-high 18 points and game-best 12 rebounds. Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) rounded out the FGCU double-figure scoring trio with 13 points and four assists, in addition to making the making the game-sealing steal on the ensuing LA Tech possession.
“Our guys made some plays at the end to get us the win, and obviously Brandon was terrific again,” said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. “Rayjon getting the loose ball off the missed free throw was a huge play. It’s a great win for our program. LA Tech has good players, and they’re really tough at home so it’s a big win for us.”
FGCU battled all night, and never allowed LA Tech to get out of striking distance. The Bulldogs appeared to be getting there after opening up a 67-59 lead with just under 9 minutes remaining, but 10-0 run to counter by the Eagles – capped by one of Goodwin’s career-high-tying four 3-pointers – knotted the game at 67-all with 7:30 left.
LA Tech counter-punched that run with a 5-0 spurt of its own to go up 72-67, but a vital offensive rebound and putback by Morant, followed by a traditional three-point play from Goodwin again evened the contest at 72-all with 4 minutes to play.
From there, neither team led by more than two points, and while the crucial plays offensively at the end eventually won the game for the Eagles, it was their defense which helped get them there.
The game was the back end of a home-and-home series started last year at Alico Arena on Dec. 22. In that contest, LA Tech limited FGCU to just five points over the final 5 minutes en route to a 66-63 win. Tuesday night on the final full day of what will be a six-day road trip for FGCU, the Eagles limited the Bulldogs to just six points over the final 6 minutes.
Making the win even more impressive is that the Eagles were without the services of redshirt senior Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) for the second-consecutive game as the Preseason All-ASUN selection did not travel with the team due to personal reasons.
His void created another shortened low-post rotation for Dooley, but the deep Eagles stepped up down the stretch in a big way. Facing an uncommon significant rebound deficit, FGCU grabbed 17 of the game’s final 26 rebounds to fuel their comeback effort and eventually concluded the evening with a 33-31 rebounding edge over the bigger Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were led by a double-double performance from Erik McCree with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Harris came off the bench and tallied 14 points, while Omar Sherman added 11 points.
FGCU entered the contest ranked 9th in the nation with a field goal percentage of 50.8 and shot exactly 50.8 percent (30-59) for the game. LA Tech entered the contest with a field goal percentage of 48.3 and shot exactly 48.3 percent (29-60) for the game.
Both teams were also evenly matched in the opening half as FGCU led for 8:55 and LA Tech for 8:39, and the two sides went into the halftime break tied at 33-33 following a 7-0 run by the Bulldogs.
The Eagles used a 10-0 run midway through the 1st stanza to erase a 21-17 deficit and turned it into a 27-21 advantage. FGCU assisted on each of its first eight field goals, and concluded the 1st half with helpers on 11 of its 12 field goals.
FGCU finished the night with 20 assists, but more importantly committed just 11 turnovers – tied for the 2nd-fewest in a game this year. Entering the contest, FGCU had a minus-24 differential over the previous two games in points off turnovers, but finished with a plus-1 edge (11-10) against the Bulldogs.
LA Tech (23-10, Vegas 16 Tournament) was the seventh opponent already this season – and now the fourth which FGCU has defeated – that won at least 20 games and played in the postseason last year. It was a battle of the #DunkinDogs and #DunkCity, but really it was all Morant as the lengthy forward threw down five slams on his own en route to FGCU finishing with a 5-1 dunk advantage.
FGCU will face a quick turnaround when it welcomes Florida National (6-9) to Alico Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Thursday, Dec. 22. It will be the final game for the Eagles before Christmas, and they will return to action at FAU on Dec. 28. FNU is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), and it will be the first meeting between the two teams.
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