DUNK CITY, Fla. – Behind a full complement of players for just the fifth time this year and first time in nearly a month, the FGCU men's basketball team (11-6, 1-0 Atlantic Sun Conference) opened its regular-season title defense by storming to a resounding 72-50 victory over Stetson (5-11, 0-1 A-Sun) Saturday night at Alico Arena in front of a standing-room-only sellout crowd.
 
FGCU welcomed Preseason A-Sun First Team selection Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) back after a six-game suspension, and the redshirt senior scored a game-high 15 points and corralled a game-best seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) reached double-figure points for the first time in eight games by adding 12, while Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C/St. John College HS/Rice) equaled that with a dozen of his own.
 
The Eagles – who entered conference play having lost four of their previous five – received just three points from leading scorer Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS), but put their depth on display as five different players scored at least eight points. In total, the Green and Blue received scoring contributions from 11 different players as they defeated Stetson for the fifth-straight time and 10th time in the last 12 occasions.
 
FGCU opened an A-Sun schedule with a victory for the fourth season in a row as the Eagles matched an A-Sun program record by grabbing 53 rebounds – tied for the most ever against a league member (2011-12 vs. Lipscomb). Ten different FGCU players secured multiple rebounds, while seven members had five rebounds or more as the Eagles finished with a +30 rebound margin.
 
"In the first half I thought we got off to a decent start and had some good shots that we missed, especially from the 3-point line," said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "Our energy level on the backboard was reflected in the stats. In the second half, we pieced together a few good segments and ended up with a good win."
 
Stetson scored the first basket of the game, but after that it was all FGCU as the Eagles never trailed the rest of the way and led by double figures for the final 28 minutes of the game. A Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) tip-in at the 12:02 mark gave the Green and Blue their first double-digit lead of the night, 17-7. The advantage swelled to as much as 15 in the first half, 29-14, with 5 minutes remaining following a Jones baseline 3-pointer.
 
After taking a 35-25 lead into the locker room, FGCU gradually built its lead up to open the second half, and on a Jones jumper at the 12:32 mark extended to its then-largest lead of the night, 52-34, prompting a Stetson timeout. An Angel Rivera 3-pointer out of the timeout momentarily stopped the momentum, but FGCU then locked in on defense and didn't allow the Hatters to score a point over the next seven minutes and didn't allow a field goal for a nine-minute stretch as the lead grew to as much as 30 at one juncture.
 
Kentwan Smith led Stetson with 12 points, while Divine Myles added 11 to finish as the only double-figure scorers for the Hatters, who had their two-game winning streak stopped. FGCU limited Stetson to just 26.8 percent (15-56) from the floor, representing the second-lowest percentage an opponent has shot this year against the Eagles.
 
Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) finished with eight points and a team-best four assists for FGCU as the NCAA active career assists leader led FGCU in helpers for the 110th time in 121 career games. By earning his 17th start of the season, Comer surpassed 2014 graduate Chase Fieler on the FGCU career starts list with 118. Hicks added eight points and six rebounds in a starting role as with Jones' return Dooley started four guards for the first time this year in Comer, Thompson, DeBose and Jones.
 
The Eagles out-scored Stetson in the paint, 38-18, marking the 28th-straight contest FGCU has won dating back to 2011-12 when finishing at least +15 in the paint. The Green and Blue also capitalized on the foul line as they connected at a season-high 92.3 percent (12-13).
 
FGCU will now turn its attention to a challenging early-season league road test when it travels to Jacksonville to take on the University of North Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. The Ospreys, who went 8-9 in their non-conference schedule, were picked to finish second in the A-Sun in the preseason poll and were the only other team besides FGCU to garner a first-place vote. UNF opened A-Sun action with a dominant 86-63 win over cross-city rival Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon.
 
GAME NOTES: Jones tied a career high by hitting three 3-pointers as part of an efficient 5-8 night from the floor … the standing-room only sellout crowd (4,633) was the second of the year, fourth overall sellout and seventh game with at least 4,000 fans in attendance (4,333 capacity + 300 standing-room only tickets) … nine players logged at least 13 minutes of action, with no one on the roster playing more than 27 minutes … FGCU turned in 16 second-chance points … the Hatters shot just 17.4 percent (4-23) from the 3-point line against FGCU's fourth-best perimeter defense in the nation … freshman Christian Terrell (25) played more minutes than anyone with the exception of Comer's 27 and finished with four points and five rebounds … Eric Moeller grabbed six rebounds … Armand Shoon scored his first points of the season late in the game.
 
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.