DUNK CITY, Fla. – Backed by three double-double performances and a career-high tying 19 points from Marc-Eddy Norelia, the FGCU men's basketball team (22-9) pulled away late to earn an 81-63 victory over Jacksonville (10-22) in the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship quarterfinal Tuesday night at Alico Arena.
 
Senior Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) posted his team-leading sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 assists against just one turnover. Redshirt sophomore Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./Bishop Gorman HS/UNLV) continued his upward progression with his first career double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds. Redshirt junior Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./St. John College HS/Rice) also secured his first career double-double with 14 points and a career-best 10 rebounds.
 
With the win, No. 2-seeded FGCU will host No. 3-seeded USC Upstate (22-10) in the A-Sun Tournament semifinal at Alico Arena on Thursday, Mar. 5, at 7 p.m. General-admission $15 tickets are on sale by visiting FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets, the Alico Arena Ticket Office or by calling 239-590-7145.
 
Redshirt sophomore Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) matched his career high on 6-11 shooting which he set not even one week ago against North Florida. The 6-8 southpaw also just missed a double-double of his own with eight rebounds. Despite Norelia coming up just short, Tuesday marked the first time in program history that FGCU had three different players secure double-doubles in the same game.
 
FGCU shot a scorching 70.8 percent (17-24) from the floor in the second half as the Eagles finished 55.6 percent for the game (30-54). The 30 made field goals are tied for the most in FGCU's 10 A-Sun Tournament games, while the 55.6-percent performance from the field is the best by the Eagles in any of their conference tournament contests (30-59, 50.8 percent in the final against Mercer in 2013).
 
Much of that red-hot shooting in the second stanza was a result of five slams from Dunk City as the Eagles finished with six for the night – four of which were Comer to Morant alley-oop connections.
 
Jacksonville – which defeated FGCU in the regular-season finale on Saturday, 75-67 – only trailed by six, 66-60, with under six minutes to play before FGCU exploded late behind Comer. Like he has all year, the A-Sun First Team selection put the Eagles on his back down the stretch, scoring seven straight for the Green and Blue with a JU layup mixed in to push the FGCU lead to 73-62. A 6-0 spurt – capped by the final Comer to Morant alley-oop connection – knocked the Dolphins out as FGCU held JU to just one point in the final 4:30 of the night.
 
"One thing that we did a lot better today was not settling for all 3s," said FGCU head coach Joe Dooley as the Eagles entered riding a two-game losing streak. "We did a good job getting to the paint. Early on we didn't make a lot of shots but we took some good shots. Once we got into a rhythm in the second half we did a nice job of turning stops into transition points which was important. We did a nice job of moving the ball and had a lot of possessions where we passed the ball to give up good shots and got great shots."
 
Those great shots for FGCU resulted in a 42-22 scoring edge in the paint as the Eagles are now 29-0 dating back to the 2011-12 season when out-scoring their opponents in the paint by at least 15 points. Also, after finishing even on the glass with the Dolphins in Saturday's meeting, FGCU capped Tuesday with a +17 edge in rebounding, 41-24.
 
A-Sun Newcomer of the Year Kori Babineaux led Jacksonville with 20 points, while Marcellous Bell was the lone other double-figure scorer for the Dolphins with 15. After shooting 46.2 percent (17-26) from the floor in the first half, including a 43.8-percent clip from 3-point range (7-16), JU struggled in the second half as FGCU's conference-leading defense locked in and limited the Dolphins to 31 percent from the field (9-29) and 16.7 percent from beyond the arc (2-12).
 
The triumph advances FGCU to the A-Sun Tournament semifinals for the fourth time in only four seasons of Division-I postseason eligibility. The Eagles have advanced to the championship game each of the previous three seasons and will be looking to stretch that run – which is the only one of its kind in the history of D-I men's basketball – to four with a win on Thursday.
 
In Thursday's other A-Sun semifinal, No. 1 North Florida (21-11) will host No. 5 Lipscomb (14-16). UNF defeated No. 8 Stetson (9-22) on Tuesday, 81-67, while the Bisons outlasted No. 4 Northern Kentucky (13-17) in overtime, 76-73.
 
GAME NOTES: FGCU is now a league-best 8-2 in A-Sun Tournament contests … Comer now has 831 career assists, two shy of tying him for 25th all-time in the NCAA record books … the Eagles shot 3-5 from 3-point range in the second half after going just 2-11 in the first half … Jamail Jones added nine points, while leading scorer Bernard Thompson chipped in with seven and is now five shy of reaching 1,800 career points … Norelia went 7-9 from the free-throw line and also added career-high-tying three assists.
 
SOCIAL CENTRAL
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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. Dooley is in his sixth season overall with a record of 101-74, and has a 44-22 record in his second season with FGCU.
 
IT'S AWESOME, BABY
Dick Vitale held a book signing in the Alico Arena Auxiliary Gym on Feb. 25, but it's not too late for fans to still purchase autographed copies of his latest book: "It's Awesome Baby! 75 Years of Memories and a Lifetime of Opinions on the Game I Love" by clicking here or by calling 239-590-7060. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The V Foundation for children battling pediatric cancer.
 
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.