DUNK CITY, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (4-3) raced out to a 16-0 start and was never remotely threatened as the Eagles cruised to a 120-60 win over NAIA member Ave Maria (2-4) on a record-setting Tuesday night at Alico Arena for their third-straight victory.
 
The 120 points, 60-point margin of victory, 67.1 percent field-goal shooting, 47 made field goals and 29 assists are all single-game program Division-I records (since 2011-12). Each of those statistics are the 2nd-most all-time in program history, with the only better marks occurring in FGCU's first (2002-03) or second (2003-04) season (points: 123; margin: 79; FG%: 67.7, FGs: 48; assists: 30).
 
Brandon Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) scored a game-high 19 points on 7-8 shooting to lead FGCU in scoring for the fifth time this year as the Eagles placed six players in double figures. Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) netted 15, Demetris Morant tied a career high with 14, Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) tallied a season-high 14 as well, Kevin Mickle (Brooklyn, N.Y./Broward/CCSU/St. Benedict's Prep) scored 13 and RaySean Scott Jr. (Compton, Calif./Compton HS) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11.
 
The Eagles – ranked #19 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 this week – shot a blistering 68.8 percent from the floor in the 1st half (22-32) as they built a 53-20 halftime lead. FGCU started the 2nd half by making eight of its first nine shots and quickly took a 45-point lead, 73-28, not even 4 minutes into the stanza and cruised from there. No FGCU player logged more than 25 minutes and everyone on the roster – with the exception of Zach Johnson who rested a sore foot – played at least 5 minutes.
 
"We got off to a strong start and the guys did a good job of sharing the ball," stated FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "We addressed some things after Friday's game (one-point overtime win vs. Long Beach State) that we needed to get better at, and we did that for the most part tonight. It was good to see the balance and get some of the younger guys some minutes."
 
Dooley emptied his bench with about 5 minutes to play, allowing all four walk-ons to play the closing minutes. Each of the four contributed with either assists, rebounds or points, led by a career-best seven from sophomore Maxx Bleecher (Boca Raton, Fla./West Boca HS) on 3-3 from the floor. Freshman Rendijs Feikners (Riga, Latvia/Tallwood HS) made his collegiate debut and posted six points, while redshirt junior Joshua Ko (Kailua, H.I./Pittsburgh/Kalaheo HS) added two assists and two rebounds and sophomore Dolan Mahoney (Bradenton, Fla./IMG Academy) passed out an assist.
 
One of FGCU's other young backcourt members, Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS), started in place of Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) and stuffed the stat sheet with a season-high nine points, a season-best seven assists, a team- and season-high three steals and three rebounds.
 
The Eagles connected at a 52.4-percent clip (11-21) from 3-point range, in addition to a 78.9-percent showing (15-19) from the free throw line. FGCU committed just 11 turnovers and recorded a season-high 12 steals.
 
FGCU distributed the ball exceptionally well as the Green and Blue netted the 120 points despite leading returning scorer Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) – who was playing just his third game back from a broken hand – tallying six points and Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) not scoring. Simmons entered the game averaging 9.3 points per outing, while Johnson came in as FGCU's 2nd-leading scorer at 13.7 per contest.
 
FGCU is now 6-0 all-time against Ave Maria, including a 91-34 victory exactly one year ago at The Nest which was the largest margin of victory in the program's D-I era until Tuesday night. The Gyrenes were led by 14 points from Exor Torres, 13 from Deonte Dixon and 12 from former FGCU walk-on TeJai Allen.
 
The Eagles took advantage of their size and speed, out-rebounding Ave Maria, 45-27, out-scoring the Gyrenes in the paint, 68-18, and also finishing with a 20-3 edge in fastbreak points. Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) rejected a season-high four shots as the 6-9 forward went a perfect 5-5 from the floor and 4-4 from the free throw line.
 
FGCU entered the contest having played the 25th-hardest schedule in the nation so far this year as five of the Eagles first six opponents had won at least 20 games a season ago and played in the postseason. The result against the Gyrenes counts toward FGCU's overall record and statistics, but has no impact on its RPI (Ratings Percentage Index).
 
The win extends FGCU's record at Alico Arena this year to 4-0 and 63-11 (.851) dating back to the start of the 2012-13 season.
 
FGCU will begin the first swing of a home-and-home series this year at Georgia Southern on Sunday, Dec. 4, at 7 p.m. Georgia Southern is 3-3 on the year entering a game at Savannah State Thursday night. GS is coming off consecutive wins over Florida A&M and Radford. FGCU and GS will then meet again at Alico Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

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COACH DOOLEY 
FGCU is led by head coach Joe Dooley, who is in his 4th season with the Eagles in 2016-17 and has coached eight all-conference selections over his first three campaigns. Dooley guided FGCU to a 4th-straight 20-win season and 4th-consecutive postseason appearance in 2015-16 as the Eagles claimed the ASUN Tournament Championship and won their First Four NCAA Tournament game in 31-point record-setting fashion. He led FGCU to its first ASUN Regular-Season Championship and first trip to the NIT in 2014, and in 2015 he led the Eagles to 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 8th season overall as a head coach and has a record of 126-93 (.575), and in his 3+ years with FGCU is 69-41 (.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.