SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – Behind 15 second-half points from Bernard Thompson and a career-high-tying 14 assists from maestro Brett Comer, the FGCU men's basketball team (8-1) earned a statement win with an 84-75 triumph over Massachusetts (5-4) Sunday afternoon in the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase at the MassMutual Center.
 
#DunkCity trailed for only 16 seconds the entire game as Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) led a quartet of FGCU double-figure scorers with 18 as all 15 of his second-half points came on 3-pointers. Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) finished with 16 points, while Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./St. John College HS/Rice) and Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) each added 15 as the Eagles continued their best-ever Division-I start to a season.
 
Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) orchestrated one of his best games as the senior turned the ball over just one time and assisted on nearly half of FGCU's 29 made field goals (29-66, 44 percent). The NCAA active career assist leader with now 681, Comer issued an assist every two minutes as he played just 28 minutes, but still reached double-figure assists for the fourth time this year and 17th time in his career.
 
FGCU entered the contest with an RPI of 46, while UMass sat at 39, giving the Eagles arguably their best regular-season non-conference victory away from Alico Arena in program history. The Minutemen, an Atlantic 10 Conference member, went 24-9 last year and earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament. FGCU's only loss of the season is to the current No. 1 RPI team in the nation, Green Bay, which defeated No. 15 Miami (8-1) on the road Saturday by 14 points.
 
"It was nice especially to see our seniors play the way they did on the road," said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "The second-half Bernard got us off to a good start and Brett controlled the ball. Once we were able to do that we got some stops which enabled us to get out in transition. The other thing that helped us was that we were able to get some easy baskets against the press."
 
The Eagles got out to a hot start, taking an 8-1 lead just a little less than 5 minutes into the game. UMass fought back and eventually tied the game at 21-21 with 6:54 to play in the half. FGCU answered immediately on a Thompson 3-pointer and eventually built its lead back up to seven at 33-26 before settling for a 36-33 halftime lead.
 
UMass opened the second half on a 7-2 run to take its only lead of the game, 40-38 at the 18:21 mark, prompting Dooley to call a timeout. Like it did all game when UMass showed a little life, FGCU responded as Comer issued assists to Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) and Thompson right out of the timeout to build a three-point lead, 43-40, and the Eagles led the rest of the way, going up by as much as 18 late in the contest.
 
FGCU is now 28-0 dating back to the 2012-13 season when leading at the half as the Green and Blue scored a season-high 84 points behind a season-best 55.6-percent clip (10-18) from the 3-point line and an 84.2-percent clip (16-19) from the free-throw line. The Eagles started the game 1-4 from the free-throw line before making their final 15 attempts.
 
Ranked No. 16 in the latest Mid Major Top 25 Poll and sure to go up when the new poll is released on Monday, FGCU is off to its second-best start all-time (14-0, 2003-04) and have already defeated four 20-win teams from a season ago (UC Santa Barbara, Ohio, San Francisco, Massachusetts) and another (South Dakota State) which won 19 contests.
 
The stout Eagles' defense, which came into the game ranked in the top-10 nationally in defensive field-goal percentage and 3-point field-goal percentage, held UMass center Cady Lalanne in check as the big man could muster only nine points and six rebounds against FGCU's double teams and constant cycle of fresh bodies. Lalanne came into the contest average a double-double (15 points, 10.4 rebounds per game) and ranked second in the country with six double-doubles on the season.
 
Donte Clark came off the bench and tallied a game-high 25 points for the Minutemen, including a 10-11 effort from the free-throw line. Maxie Esho finished as the only other double-figure scorer for UMass as he tallied 11. Trey Davis issued eight assists as the Minutemen finished with 15 assists and 13 turnovers compared with 24 helpers and only 11 giveaways for the Eagles.
 
The win for FGCU continued a great weekend for Atlantic Sun men's basketball as on Saturday USC Upstate (8-2) traveled to Atlanta and defeated Georgia Tech, 59-54, while North Florida (6-3) went into Purdue and triumphed over the Boilermakers, 73-70. Northern Kentucky (3-4) has an opportunity to cap a terrific weekend as the Norse host No. 16/17 West Virginia Sunday evening.
 
FGCU will have a week break for final exams before returning to action next Sunday, Dec. 14, at Alico Arena against cross-state foe FIU at 2 p.m. The Panthers are 5-4 on the season following a loss at No. 5 Louisville Friday evening. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office, online at FGCUAthletics.com or by calling 239-590-7145.
 
GAME NOTES: Thompson and Hicks each finished with a team-high six rebounds as FGCU was just out-rebounded, 34-33 … the Eagles had eight different players score in the first 17 minutes of the game … the Eagles led for 36:40, while the contest was tied for 3:04 … points in the paint were tied at 30-30 … UMass had nine blocks … Comer issued 14 assists against San Diego State in the 2013 NCAA Tournament … Thompson finished 6-8 from the 3-point line, tying a career high for makes … the attendance at the neutral court just a half hour from the UMass campus in Amherst was 5,235 … the loss is the first in seven games for UMass at the MassMutual Center.
 
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.