DUNK CITY, Fla. – Brett Comer scored 12 of his team-high 19 points in the final 7 minutes as the senior recorded a double-double by adding a game-best 10 assists to lead the FGCU men's basketball team (9-2) to an 83-78 win over visiting Furman (2-7) Friday night in front of a near-sold out Alico Arena.
 
Half of Comer's assists went to redshirt sophomore Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./Bishop Gorman HS/UNLV) as the duo teamed up to produce five alley-oops, including four alone in the first 16 minutes of the contest. Morant finished with a career-high 13 points and grabbed a team-high-tying seven rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
 
Redshirt junior Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./St. John College HS/Rice) added 14 points for FGCU while corralling seven rebounds of his own as the guard has now reached double-figure scoring in five-straight games. Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) moves within six assists of 700 for his career as the #DunkCity maestro – the NCAA active career assist leader – found his way to double-figure assists for the fifth time this year and 18th time in his career.
 
Leading by double figures late in the game, senior Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) hit a 3-pointer to give FGCU a 67-54 lead with 5:34 remaining – a score which appeared to be the dagger. DeBose added a 3 of his own with 2:54 left to give the Green and Blue a 12-point edge, 76-64, but Furman went on a furious 9-0 run before Comer stopped the streak with an and-1 finish to turn a 76-73 lead into a 79-73 advantage with 1:34 left.
 
Furman's Stephen Croone answered with a quick 3-pointer, but once again it was Comer with an aggressive retort as the senior stormed back down the court and was fouled, making both to put the Eagles back in front by five, 81-76, with 50 seconds left. After Furman once again responded, DeBose iced the contest with a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left to serve as the final margin.
 
"It was a good win for us, but the thing that disappointed me the most was the way we handled late-game situations," said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "We gave up too many easy baskets at the end. We need to make sure that when we have a lead we maintain it. We had a couple shots at the rim we missed and then gave up some 3-point shots and three-point plays to let them get back into the game."
 
Despite winning by just five, FGCU controlled the game throughout as Furman led for only 51 seconds all night, 14-13, midway through the first half. The contest was tied for 1:56, but the Eagles led for the other 37:13 as the club continued its best-ever start to a Division-I season.
 
Devin Sibley led Furman with 20 points, while Croone tallied 18 and Geoff Beans netted 16. Kendrec Chuisseu added 13 points for the Paladins, who shot 42.6 percent from the floor (26-61) – the second-consecutive opponent FGCU has allowed to connect at clip better than 40-percent as that only happened once through the first nine games.
 
After shooting 40 percent from the field in the first half (12-30), FGCU fired at a 56.3-percent rate in the second half (18-32) to finish at 48.4 percent for the night (30-62). Seven of those 30 makes were dunks as the Eagles finished with a season high in that category.
 
It took Dunk City just five seconds to record its first dunk of the evening as Morant won the opening tip back to Comer, who pushed forward and lobbed it up for Morant. The duo connected four more time over the course of the evening, most coming over the top of Furman's zone defense.
 
Freshman Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) stepped up big in the first half as he connected on his first three 3-point attempts to tie for the team lead with nine points at the half – which is what he finished with for the game. Redshirt freshman Logan Hovey (Orlando, Fla./Paul J. Hagerty HS) gave the Eagles a boost as well as he and Terrell both played important minutes late in the game, with Hovey recording his first collegiate points (four) while also contributing four rebounds and two steals.
 
Both of them saw extended time due in part to the six-game suspension of redshirt senior Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) which was announced prior to the game. Jones, who averages 11.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, will miss the rest of FGCU's non-conference schedule for a violation of team rules.
 
That non-conference slate continues on Tuesday when FGCU begins the first of a three-game road trip at Iona (6-3) at 2 p.m. The Gaels are one of the nation's top-scoring teams, and boast the national leader in scoring in A.J. English, who averages 24.4 per game. Iona is 70th in the RPI as of Friday, and will be the first of four challenging road tests ahead for the Eagles, who will also face Xavier (Dec. 28), Pittsburgh (Dec. 30) and UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 5). FGCU is back at The Nest on Jan. 2 to face Ave Maria at 7 p.m.
 
GAME NOTES: FGCU has not lost consecutive regular-season games since Dec. 17 and 19 of last year … Thompson scored just nine points but added three steals – his eighth multiple-steal game of the season and fifth of three of more pilfers … FGCU finished with a 43-34 rebounding edge … the Eagles issued 20 assists and had just 12 turnovers … Comer gave the ball away just two times and now has 85 assists on the year against only 24 turnovers … the attendance was 4,251, FGCU's fifth home game this year over 4,000 and just shy of a sellout (4,333) … Marc-Eddy Norelia added eight points for FGCU, while Nate Hicks contributed six points and matched the team high with seven boards.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
General-admission tickets for all FGCU men's basketball games at Alico Arena are still available and can be purchased by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets, in person at the Alico Arena Ticket Office or over the phone at 239-590-7145. For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the men's basketball program, follow @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram, and "Like" us on Facebook at /FGCUMBB.
 
COACH DOOLEY 
FGCU is led by second-year head coach Joe Dooley, who coached three all-conference selections during his first season and guided FGCU to its first Atlantic Sun Conference Regular-Season Championship and first trip to the NIT. Prior to arriving in SWFL, Dooley spent 10 seasons as an assistant at Kansas under head coach Bill Self. During those 10 seasons, Kansas produced 300 wins, nine straight Big 12 regular-season titles, six Big 12 Tournament championships, six NCAA Sweet 16s, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances and two Final Fours, including the 2008 National Championship.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.