DUNK CITY, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (8-7) will look to enter Atlantic Sun Conference action on a three-game winning streak as the Eagles conclude their non-league schedule Tuesday night with a contest against NAIA member Webber International (7-8) at Alico Arena at 7 p.m.
 
OPENING TIP
FGCU has won two in a row, most recently a 68-57 victory over 10th-ranked Division-II Eckerd (12-1) Saturday afternoon. Webber, meanwhile, dropped a 103-53 decision to fellow A-Sun member Stetson on Saturday.
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Tickets are still available and can be secured by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office. For those not able to make it to The Nest, the game – like all FGCU home contests – will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app with David Moulton and Pete Lonergan on the call. Additionally, live stats are available, and a multitude of social media platforms can also be accessed at the top of this release for fans to keep up with the action and behind-the-scenes coverage.
 
With classes for the spring semester getting underway Wednesday, students are encouraged to visit the Alico Arena Ticket Office prior to tipoff on Tuesday to secure their free tickets by showing their Eagle ID. At the same time, students can also pick up their tickets for the A-Sun opener on Saturday at 7 p.m. against in-state foe Stetson, the first home game for the Green and Blue with classes in session since Nov. 23.
 
TWEETABLES
1) FGCU won its 50th home game (50-10) since the start of the 2012-13 season with the triumph over Eckerd on Saturday.
2) The Eagles entered January at .500 (7-7); FGCU was 7-7 heading into January in 2014 and won the A-Sun regular-season title.
3) Ten of FGCU's 12 games against Division-I opponents have been decided by 10 points or less, including seven straight for the first time since 2011-12.
4) The 11-point margin of victory over Eckerd represented the first time FGCU has not had a game decided by 10 or fewer points or 20 or more points.
5) FGCU has scored 80 points or more six times already this year after reaching that mark just five times all of last season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday will mark the first-ever meeting between FGCU and Webber International, located in Babson Park, Fla. – about 30 miles southeast of Lakeland. This year, the Eagles are 3-4 against first-time opponents, having defeated Texas Wesleyan, Youngstown State and La Salle and lost to Bowling Green, Texas A&M, Louisiana Tech and South Dakota.
 
SCOUTING WEBBER INTERNATIONAL
^ FGCU will be the third D-I opponent Webber will have faced this year, as in addition to Stetson it fell at Georgia Southern in November, 116-49.
^ Daniel Coffey leads Webber with 15.4 points per game, while Sam Auguste averages 12.9 and Dewaine Lyals contributes 9.5 for the Warriors. Second-leading scorer, Jovany Decues, completed the fall semester averaging 13 points per game, but has been ruled academically ineligible.
^ Freshman Ronzell Evans is a Fort Myers native who graduated from Lehigh Senior High School. He made his second start at Stetson and secured a game-high 14 rebounds.
^ Head coach John Shoffner is in his 11th season at the helm of the Warriors and 18th overall with the school as he played at Webber from 1997-2000.
^ Webber is a member of The Sun Conference, which is also home to Ave Maria. The Eagles defeated Ave Maria earlier this year, 91-34.
 
AMONG THE BEST
FGCU has the 4th-best 3-point percentage defense in the nation, holding opponents to just .262 from beyond the arc. The Eagles finished 5th in that category last year (24.6 percent).
 
PLAYER QUICK HITS
^ Redshirt senior Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C./Rice/St. John College HS) and redshirt junior Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) are both not expected to play as they plan to rest leg injuries. Both are expected to be in the lineup when the Eagles open A-Sun action on Saturday.
^ Redshirt junior Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) is one double-double shy of matching the D-I program single-season record of seven held by Chase Fieler in 2013-14. Norelia is 2nd in the A-Sun in rebounding at 8.7 per outing, 4th in field-goal percentage (.529) and 7th in scoring with 15.7 points per game.
^ After averaging just 3.3 points per game last year, sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) has catapulted to 13.9 per game this year – an increase of 10.6 – and has led the Eagles in scoring a team-high-tying six times.
 
YOUNG, TALENTED AND DEEP
FGCU has just two seniors on its roster, and so far this year 82 percent of its scoring, 86 percent of its rebounding (excluding team rebounds) and 86 percent of its assists have come from non-seniors.
 
Not only are the Eagles young and talented, but they are deep as already this year 10 different players have reached double-figure points in a game. The only team in the nation with more is Georgia Southern with 11. Additionally, FGCU has had five different leading scorers this year, and four through the first six contests of the season.
 
Below is a list of players who have already scored 10 or more points in a game, their season high and how many times they've led the team in scoring.
 
R-Jr. Norelia (6): 34
R-Fr. Zach Johnson (1): 26
So. Terrell (6): 25
R-Sr. DeBose (1): 20
R-Sr. Filip Cvjeticanin (1): 18
Fr. Reggie Reid: 18
R-So. Antravious Simmons: 17
Fr. Rayjon Tucker: 15
R-So. Kevin Mickle: 12
R-Jr. Demetris Morant: 11
 
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
In addition to being an extremely young team, FGCU has also faced a demanding non-conference schedule. The Eagles began this week with a non-league strength of schedule of 56, higher than a plethora of Power 5 programs, including (No. = rank in national polls): No. 5 Michigan State (63), No. 4 Virginia (64), No. 19 Iowa (77), No. 7 North Carolina (81), No. 1 Kansas (83), No. 11 Miami (91), No. 2 Oklahoma (116), No. 16 Louisville (134), No. 3 Maryland (139), No. 15 West Virginia (201) and No. 6 Arizona (224).
 
All but one of FGCU's seven losses have come against top-155 RPI teams, including three losses to top-35 teams (#18 Florida, 70-50; #19 Texas A&M, 75-65; #35 South Dakota State, 56-52) and four to top-100 opponents (#66 Louisiana Tech, 66-63) – and three of those four losses came by 10 points or less. FGCU has also dropped a 85-75 decision at #115 Ohio and an 89-81 overtime decision versus #154 South Dakota.
 
HOME SUCCESS
FGCU is 50-10 at Alico Arena since 2012-13. Seven of those 10 losses have come since the start of the 2014-15 season. FGCU is 7-3 at home this year, was 13-4 last year, went 15-2 in 2013-14 and 15-1 in 2012-13.
 
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Earlier on Monday, Norelia was named A-Sun Co-Player of the Week by league officials. Norelia averaged 18 points and nine rebounds per game en route to helping lead the Eagles to two wins, with the lone loss coming versus South Dakota. In that contest with the Coyotes last Monday, the redshirt junior notched his fifth 20-point game of the season and sixth double-double of the campaign by grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. Additionally, he blocked a career-high five shots.
 
The 6-8 Tulane transfer backed that performance up with a 15-point, nine-rebound outing opposite Atlantic 10 Conference member La Salle on New Year's Eve Day as he led the Eagles to their second victory over an A-10 foe this year, 86-77 (UMass, 77-76). He concluded the week on Saturday with 19 points and six rebounds against Eckerd.
 
The honor is the second of the year for Norelia, who garnered A-Sun Player of the Week accolades on Nov. 23 after averaging 22.3 points and 13 rebounds per contest and leading FGCU to three-consecutive wins. Last year, Norelia was named A-Sun Newcomer of the Week once. Earlier this year, freshmen Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) and Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) were both tabbed as A-Sun Newcomer of the Week on Nov. 23 and Dec. 14, respectively.
 
RECAPPING ECKERD
FGCU trailed by as much as eight, 24-16, after getting down 9-2 out of the gate, but turned things around and went into the halftime locker room with a 34-33 lead. The Eagles started the second half on an extended 22-5 run in the first 10 minutes and went on to lead by as much as 19 before Eckerd closed the contest on an 8-0 run in the final 1:17 against FGCU walk-ons and seldom-used reserves.
 
After allowing Eckerd – which played the game as an exhibition contest and entered on a 12-game winning streak – to shoot 42.9 percent (15-35) in the first half, FGCU limited the Tritons to 31 percent (9-29) in the second half. That total was just 6-26 (23.1 percent) before the final 77 seconds in which the Eagles turned the ball over four times, leading to seven of the eight Eckerd points.
 
Conversely, FGCU shot 45 percent (9-20) in the first half from the floor and went 14-27 (51.9 percent) in the second half. One of the biggest differences came at the free-throw line as the Eagles were aggressive throughout and went 17-23 (73.9 percent) from the charity stripe – including a run of 14 in a row after missing three of their first four – while Eckerd went just 4-10 from the line.
 
GOLDEN SUMMER
DeBose won a gold medal as part of Team USA at the World University Games (WUG) this summer in South Korea ... was one of only two players (SMU's Nic Moore) on the team not from Kansas University ... finished the tournament averaging 4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 10.8 minutes per contest ... scored a team-high 18 points in the USA's final group-round game against Switzerland ... connected on 50 percent (13-26) of his shots from the floor during the WUG, including 3-8 from 3-point range ... added nine offensive and nine defensive rebounds, with the nine offensive boards representing the second-most by any guard on the roster  ... also contributed six steals and a block as Team USA won its games by an average of 20.3 points.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will tip off A-Sun action by playing the second game of a doubleheader as the women (12-4 and winners of nine of 10) will battle rival Stetson first on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Hatters (6-9) will open league play on Wednesday by hosting defending champion North Florida (11-6).
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets are currently on sale for all remaining home contests. 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 109-83 (.568), and in his 2+ years with FGCU is 52-31 (.627).
 
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.