DUNK CITY, Fla. – In a game in which its starters played only 59 combined minutes, it was Christian Terrell stepping up off the bench for the FGCU men's basketball team (7-1) as the freshman poured in a career- and game-high 22 points as part of a 77-58 win over Florida Tech Wednesday evening at Alico Arena.
 
The Division-II Panthers entered the contest at 7-0 and were ranked No. 25 in the national poll, but a 51-10 edge in bench points proved to be the difference for FGCU, which is ranked No. 16 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll. Head coach Joe Dooley played his starters the opening three minutes of the game and then none of them saw the court again until the 16:31 mark of the second half as the quintet re-entered with just a 41-39 lead.
 
In that 20-minute span with the starters on the bench, it was Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) who distinguished himself the most as the 6-4 guard netted 16 points in that stretch, including all eight points to open the second half before the starters checked back in.
 
Terrell's 3-pointer to open the FGCU second-half scoring gave the Eagles a four-point lead, 36-32. His next 3-pointer tied the game at 39-39, and on the ensuing FGCU possession he tipped in a missed Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./St. John College HS/Rice) layup to give the Green and Blue the aforementioned 41-39 lead it would never relinquish the rest of the night.
 
The left-handed Terrell finished 8-13 from the floor, including a 5-8 performance from 3-point range in 25 minutes of action – all career highs save for the minutes which matched his total set against San Francisco. He was one of a quartet of double-figure scorers for FGCU as Dunk City has continued to morph into Depth City this season with senior Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) tallying 16, DeBose adding 12 and Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) contributing 10. Additionally, Terrell is now the fifth different FGCU player to lead the team in scoring this year through only eight games.
 
"We had a very sluggish start, but we had some young guys come in and give us some energy, especially Christian," said Dooley. "I think it was good for us to work on some things and find out some things that some of our younger guys have to improve. We'll have a good opportunity to get in some work the rest of this week to get ready for Massachusetts."
 
Thompson opened the game with a 3-pointer on FGCU's first possession of the game and then made two free throws at the 17:16 mark to tie the game at 5-5 before Dooley made the line change. In addition to Terrell, it was Norelia and DeBose who provided the biggest first-half spark for the Eagles as the duo provided eight and seven first-half points, respectively.
 
All 15 players who were dressed saw game action for FGCU, which held its fifth-consecutive opponent below 60 points for the first time in program history. The Eagles out-rebounded FIT, 54-39, with 10 of those boards coming from redshirt freshman Logan Hovey (Orlando, Fla./Paul J. Hagerty HS) who logged 23 minutes in just his third career game after redshirting last year following surgery and missing several games this year with injuries.
 
The Green and Blue issued 20 assists on 30 made field goals (30-67, 44.8 percent) as Brian Greene Jr. (Chicago, Ill./Thornton Township HS/IMG Academy/Auburn) led the charge in that regard with a career-high-tying five helpers off the bench. The NCAA active career assist leader, Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) issued just four assists in only 13 minutes of action as the senior now has 667 for his career.
 
Jermaine Jackson led FIT with 18 points, while Sam Daniel added 10 points and nine rebounds and Corbin Jackson netted 10 points as well for the Panthers, who shot just 32.4 percent from the floor (24-74) and 19.2 percent (5-26) from the 3-point line. The low percentages continue to be a trend against FGCU as the Eagles entered the contest with the nation's 15th-best field-goal percentage defense (.348) and fourth-best 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.217).
 
FGCU is now 34-3 at Alico Arena since the start of the 2012-13 season, and furthermore is 22-1 against non-conference opponents during the regular season at The Nest dating back to the 2011-12 campaign.
 
FGCU's grueling non-conference schedule will continue Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Eagles flock to the Northeast to face the University of Massachusetts as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. An Atlantic 10 Conference member, UMass was ranked most of last season, went 24-9 and earned an at-large NCAA Tournament berth before finishing with the No. 26 RPI in the nation. The Minutemen, who are off to a 5-3 start this season, are currently in the top-50 of the unofficial RPI ranking and are coming off consecutive losses at Harvard, 75-73, and LSU, 82-60.
 
GAME NOTES: Norelia, the Atlantic Sun Conference's leading rebounder, just missed another double-double as he corralled eight rebounds … the Eagles had just 11 turnovers, but the Panthers committed only five and had six blocks … sophomore TeJai Allen made two free throws late in the game for his fourth and fifth career points … Thompson went 4-5 from 3-point range as the Eagles made a season-high 11 3-pointers (11-24, 45.8 percent), nearly double their previous high (six vs. Ohio) … the attendance was 4,028, the 14th-straight crowd dating back to last year over 4,000 … Florida Tech came in averaging 83.6 points per game … Wednesday's game marked the first time this year that Thompson did not have a steal (FGCU had only two).
 
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.