GAINESVILLE – The FGCU men's basketball team (3-3) had a halftime lead at the University of Florida (5-1) Friday night, but the Eagles scored just 17 second-half points and fell to the Gators at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center, 70-50.
 
FGCU took a 33-32 lead to the break after holding UF to only 29.7-percent shooting (11-37) in the opening 20 minutes. However, the Gators' length presented the Eagles with a plethora of issues in the closing stanza as UF converted 12 turnovers into 18 points and limited the Green and Blue to just 25.9 percent (7-27) from the floor.
 
Sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) led the Eagles as he narrowly missed out on his second career double-double with team highs of nine points and nine rebounds. Freshman Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) added eight points a season-best seven rebounds, while redshirt senior Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./St. John College HS) posted seven points and five rebounds.
 
For the game, UF held a 26-6 edge in points off turnovers as the Eagles committed 18 giveaways – the most in a regulation contest this year. FGCU out-rebounded the SEC member, 45-44, but the Gators held the edge on the offensive glass, 17-12, and turned those caroms into 26 second-chance points compared with the Eagles' 14. Aside from those two key areas, the Eagles played UF relatively equal in the first meeting since the Gators ended 15th-seeded FGCU's record-setting run to the Sweet 16 in 2013.
 
"The difference in the second half was obviously second-chance points and points off turnovers," stated FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, whose team faced 3/4-court pressure most of the night. "When you turn it over like we did, it didn't allow our defense to get set. Our young guards didn't handle the ball well in the second half, but I think that will be a good learning experience with two freshmen."
 
FGCU's youth didn't show at all in the first half as the Eagles didn't allow the Gators a lead any larger than five, a feat made even more impressive by three starters – Marc-Eddy Norelia, Filip Cvjeticanin and Demetris Morant – playing only a combined 15 minutes due to foul trouble. With UF holding a 25-21 lead, FGCU went on an 8-0 run over a three-minute span which was capped by a Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) one-handed fastbreak dunk over a defender.
 
That run opened up a 29-25 edge at the 3-minute mark. The lead remained at four with less than a minute to play in the half despite FGCU playing at that point with three freshmen and two sophomores, and the Eagles eventually took the aforementioned one-point advantage into the locker room.
 
However, the Gators came chomping out of the halftime break and opened the second half on a 10-0 run to take their largest lead of the night, 42-33. The lead ballooned to 16, 54-38, midway through the half, but FGCU once again displayed its youthful resilience and rattled off seven in a row – all from non-seniors – to make it a single-digit deficit, 54-45, with eight minutes remaining. But that was as close as the Eagles would get as UF held FGCU without a point over the final 3:30 to turn a 14-point game into the final 20-point margin.
 
Entering the game, 76 percent of FGCU's points this year had come from non-seniors, and that trend continued Friday as all but seven of the Eagles' 50 points came from freshmen, sophomores or juniors, and 33 of those were from freshmen or sophomores.
 
Leading scorer and rebounder Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) was limited to just six points and six rebounds for the Eagles, while redshirt freshman Johnson also netted six points. For the game, FGCU shot a season-low 34.5 percent (20-58) from the floor; however, it limited the Gators to just 36.6 percent (26-71) from the field – easily UF's worst performance of the year.
 
All-SEC performer Dorian Finney-Smith presented problems for the Eagles all night as the lengthy 6-8 forward led all scorers with 23 points, while also securing eight rebounds. John Egbunu posted a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Gators, who had no other player score more than seven points. UF rejected 11 shots, the most the Gators have blocked in a game since they had 12 against Florida A&M in December 2006.
 
FGCU will look to halt a mini two-game losing streak when it returns home to Alico Arena to face local NAIA foe Ave Maria (0-5) on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 5 p.m.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
An extremely limited amount of season tickets are still available for the 2015-16 FGCU men's basketball season. Single-game tickets are currently on sale. For the latest ticket information, log on to FGCUAthletics.com or call the Alico Arena Ticket Office at 239-590-7145.

SOCIAL CENTRAL
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the men's basketball program, follow @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram, Like us on Facebook at /FGCUMBB and watch us on Snapchat at FGCU_MBB.
 
COACH DOOLEY 
FGCU is led by head coach Joe Dooley, who is in his third year with the Eagles in 2015-16 and coached six all-conference selections during his first two seasons. He guided FGCU to its first Atlantic Sun Conference Regular-Season Championship and first trip to the NIT in 2014, and in 2015 he led the Eagles to their third-straight 20-win season and third-straight postseason appearance with a berth in the CIT. 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. Dooley is in his seventh season overall as a head coach and has a record of 104-79 (.568), and in his two years with FGCU is 47-27 (.635).

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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.