DeLAND, Fla. – With a chance to win at least a share of the Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season championship and a tournament seed ranging anywhere from 2-5, the FGCU men's basketball team (17-12, 8-5 A-Sun) enters its regular-season finale Thursday night at 7 at Stetson (9-21, 3-10 A-Sun) tied for 2nd in the league with plenty on the line.
 
A-SUN STANDINGS (Final Game)
1) North Florida: 9-4 (@ JU)
2) Jacksonville: 8-5 (UNF)
3) NJIT: 8-5 (@ Upstate)
4) FGCU: 8-5 (@ Stetson)
5) Lipscomb: 7-6 (KSU)
6) Kennesaw State: 6-7 (@ LIP)
7) Stetson: 3-10 (FGCU)
8) USC Upstate: 3-10 (NJIT)
 
OPENING TIP
Above are the current A-Sun standings by tournament seed heading into the final game. The possibility still exists for FGCU and as many as three other teams (four in total) to share the A-Sun regular-season title. Below is a complete breakdown of the most clear-cut seeding scenarios as FGCU can receive anywhere from a 2 seed to a 5 seed.
 
IF FGCU wins AND North Florida wins, FGCU receives the 2 seed.
 
IF FGCU wins AND Jacksonville wins, FGCU receives the 3 seed.
 
IF FGCU wins AND Jacksonville wins AND NJIT wins, FGCU receives the 4 seed.
 
IF FGCU loses AND Lipscomb wins, FGCU receives the 5 seed.
 
IF FGCU loses AND Lipscomb loses, FGCU receives the 4 seed.
 
There are a plethora of other scenarios that exist as well, and the complete seeding chart with those outcomes and tiebreaker information can be found by clicking here.
 
A-SUN TOURNAMENT
The on-campus A-Sun Tournament gets underway next Tuesday, Mar. 1. So long as FGCU wins at Stetson, the Eagles will be one of the four quarterfinal host sites. The two highest-remaining seeds will host the semifinals on Thursday, Mar. 3. The highest-remaining seed hosts the championship final on Sunday, Mar. 6, at 7 p.m. The final will air live on ESPN2, while the previous rounds will be broadcast on ESPN3 with a start time to be announced, but likely at, or around, 7 p.m.
 
TWEETABLES
1) With a win at Stetson, FGCU will finish a season with its all-time A-Sun record above .500 for the first time (currently 79-78).
2) FGCU has moved up to 6th in the nation in 3-point percentage defense at .295. The Eagles had dropped to as low as 30th during their four-game losing streak.
3) The Eagles have had 18 games this year decided by 10 points or less (8-10 in those games), two shy of matching the D-I program record of 20 in 2011-12.
4) The 68 points FGCU scored in its 68-63 win over Kennesaw State Saturday where tied for the fewest in a win this year (68-57 vs. Eckerd).
5)  Kennesaw State out-rebounded FGCU in that game, marking just the second time (2-6) the Eagles have won when being out-rebounded (vs. USC Upstate).
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU holds a 13-6 edge in the all-time series with Stetson, which started when the Eagles joined D-I and the A-Sun in 2007-08. The Eagles have won each of the past seven meetings by an average of 17 points per game. The Hatters won the first three meetings – and four of the first five – but since then the Eagles have claimed 12 of 14 contests since 2010, including the first meeting this year, 82-53. The seven-game winning streak over the Hatters is the second-longest by the Eagles against an A-Sun member, with the longest being a 10-game streak over Kennesaw State.
 
SEASON'S FIRST MEETING
Behind a record-setting first half in which it staked itself to a 27-point lead, FGCU rolled to the aforementioned win to open league play at Alico Arena on Jan. 9.
 
The Eagles shot a blistering 71.4 percent (20-28) in the opening stanza, their best percentage in program history in any half against a D-I opponent. FGCU led by as much as 32 in the second half as the 29-point margin of victory was tied for the third-largest in program history against an A-Sun opponent.
 
The Hatters scored the first basket of the night, but FGCU took over after that and responded with nine in a row. Following a Stetson bucket to stop the run, the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to open up a 20-4 lead just eight minutes into the contest and never led by fewer than 14 the rest of the night as the Green and Blue won their fourth-straight game.
 
SCOUTING STETSON
^ After finishing 3-11 in the A-Sun last year, Stetson was predicted to finish last in the eight-team league in the preseason poll, tied with Kennesaw State. The Hatters are even younger than FGCU as they do not have a senior on the roster and only three juniors.
^ Freshman Derick Newton leads a trio of double-figure scorers with 15.4 points per game. He's followed by sophomore Divine Myles (13.9) and junior Brian Pegg (12.4).
^ Stetson is 2nd in the A-Sun in scoring at 79.8 points per game, but last in the league in scoring defense as it gives up 83.7 per outing.
^ Pegg leads the A-Sun in rebounding (10.2 per game) as he has secured a league-leading 17 double-doubles on the year. Myles ranks 4th in the league in both steals (1.5) and assists (4.3).
^ Stetson has lost five in a row in the A-Sun and six in a row overall as the Hatters dropped a 96-94 overtime contest at home Monday night to Bethune-Cookman. However, despite being tied for last place in the A-Sun, Stetson stunned league-leader UNF on the Ospreys home court on Feb. 1, 86-82, to start UNF's four-game losing streak.
^ Corey Williams is in his third season as head coach of the Hatters and has a 25-67 record in that time. Williams was previously an assistant at Florida State and Oral Roberts after completing a standout career at Oklahoma State. Williams spent parts of two seasons as a player in the NBA with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Chicago Bulls, winning a title with the Bulls in 1993.
 
REBOUNDING ADVANTAGE
FGCU leads the A-Sun in rebound margin at +3.8, while Stetson is last at -5.1. Fifteen of FGCU's 17 wins this year have come when out-rebounding its opponent, while Stetson is 3-18 this season when being out-rebounded.

LOW-POST EDGE
In addition to its rebounding edge, FGCU also has an advantage in low-post scoring. FGCU receives 60.3 percent of its total points from 2-point field goals, ranking as the 5th-highest percentage in the nation, while Stetson ranks 190th in the country at 49.9 percent. In the first meeting this year, FGCU finished with a 46-29 edge in paint points. Dating back to near the end of the 2011-12 season, FGCU is 35-3 when finishing with a +15 edge in paint points.
 
BEEN HERE BEFORE
While FGCU has already lost five A-Sun games – more than all of last year (3) – the Eagles also lost five league games in 2012-13. That year they still won the A-Sun Tournament and went on to become the only 15 seed in NCAA Tournament history to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.
 
A-SUN RANKS
In addition to leading the A-Sun in rebounding (40), FGCU also paces the league in points allowed (70.6), field goal percentage defense (.414) and 3-point percentage defense (.295).
 
PROTECTING THE ROCK
FGCU has set the single-season program record with nine games of single-digit turnovers this year, surpassing the previous record of eight from last year. Eight single-digit turnover games is exactly how many the Eagles had in their entire pre-D-I history, spanning five seasons from 2002-07. In 2013-14, FGCU had six single-digit turnover games, as through Joe Dooley's nearly three seasons in charge of the Eagles they have posted 23 of the program's 29 single-digit turnovers games in the D-I era (since 2007-08).
 
RECORD-SETTING SEASON
Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) has set the FGCU record for double-doubles in a season with 11, is 2nd in the A-Sun in rebounding at 8.9 per outing, 4th in field-goal percentage (.541) and 6th in scoring with 16.7 points per game. The previous single-season program record for double-doubles was nine by Robinson Tisme in the program's first season in 2002-03. Additionally, Norelia has missed a double-double on five other occasions by just a single rebound each time. Norelia has been named A-Sun Player of the Week three times this year, including on Monday when he shared the honor.
 
The southpaw is also closing in on several D-I and all-time program single-season records:
 
Points Per Game: 16.7 – Would be the best in D-I history and 3rd-best all-time (Leighton Bowie (19.5 in 2003-04).
Field Goals Made: 186 – Currently 6th all-time, with the record of 210 held by Sherwood Brown in 2012-13 (37 games).
Rebounds Per Game: 8.9 – Would be the best in program history, well ahead of Adam Liddell's 8.3 mark in 2006-07.
Total Rebounds: 258 – Currently the 3rd-most in program history, closing in on the record of 274 held by Liddell in 2006-07.
 
PLAYER QUICK HITS
^ Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) ranks 4th among all freshmen nationally in assist rate at 33 percent – the percentage of field goals made by a team that a player assists on while in the game.
^ Fellow freshman point guard Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) went a career-best 8-10 from the free-throw line Saturday night against Kennesaw State.
^ Redshirt junior Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) has 71 career blocks, just nine shy of moving into 2nd place on the program's all-time list. Chase Fieler (2010-14) owns the all-time record with 134 rejections. Morant returned to the FGCU lineup five games ago after missing the previous seven contests with a muscle bruise in his right leg. ^ Redshirt senior Julian DeBose became the 7th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points on Feb. 6 against North Florida. He entered the game against the Ospreys needing just five points to reach the mark and now has 1,043 for his career.
^ Redshirt senior Filip Cvjeticanin is tied for 3rd on the program's all-time 3-pointers made list with 178, and is tied for 2nd among all D-I players. The D-I record is held by 2015 graduate Bernard Thompson with 219. Ryan Hopkins (2002-05) holds the all-time record with 355. Cvjeticanin is doubtful on Thursday with concussion symptoms after hitting his head on the floor following a Lipscomb illegal screen last Thursday.
 
BREAKOUT SEASON
After averaging just 3.3 points per game last year, sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) has catapulted to 12.6 per game this year – an increase of 9.3 – and has led the Eagles in scoring seven times. Not only is the 6-5 Terrell getting the job done on the offensive end, he also enters Thursday's contest with the 2nd-most rebounds on the team this year with 137.
 
RE-TWEETS
1) FGCU has already played four overtime games, setting a single-season program record. In its entire pre-D-I history (2002-06), FGCU played three total OT contests.
2) Nine times this year FGCU has had a game decided by five points or less. The Eagles are 5-4 in such games.
3) Johnson has reached double-figure points in 13 of the last 16 games, and is 2nd on FGCU in scoring in A-Sun games at 13.5 per contest.
 
A-SUN SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, FGCU boasts a 46-17 (.730) record in A-Sun games – seven more wins than any other team in the league (North Florida, 39).
 
BY THE NUMBERS
FGCU has the following records under the direction of Dooley:

Leading At The Half: 47-3 (.940)
Holding Opponent Below 40% FG: 36-4 (.900)
Scoring At Least 80 Points: 22-3 (.880)
Grabbing More Rebounds: 50-8 (.862)
Scoring At Least 70 Points: 40-8 (.833)
 
ON RECORD PACE
FGCU is on pace for several D-I and all-time program records this year:
 
Points Per Game: 76.7 – Would shatter the D-I record of 72.9 set by the Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.
Rebounds Per Game: 40 – Would set the D-I record, besting each of the previous two years (38.1 in 2014-15 and 36.6 in 2013-14).
Field-Goal Percentage: 47.1 – Would be the best all-time, just ahead of the record of 46.7 percent in 2013-14.
Blocks Per Game: 4 – Would break the best mark all-time as no team has ever even averaged 4 blocks per game in a season.
Scoring Margin: +6.1 – Would match the best in D-I history along with the 2012-13 team.
 
YOUNG, TALENTED AND DEEP
FGCU has just two seniors on its roster, and so far this year 82 percent of its scoring, 87 percent of its rebounding (excluding team rebounds) and 88 percent of its assists have come from non-seniors.
 
Not only are the Eagles young and talented, but they are deep as this year 10 different players have reached double-figure points in a game. The only teams in the nation with more are Boston University (12) and Georgia Southern (11). 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 (or tied) the team in scoring.
 
R-Jr. Norelia (15 – includes a tie): 34
R-Fr. Johnson (5 – includes two ties): 26
So. Terrell (7 – includes a tie): 25
R-Sr. DeBose (2): 20
Fr. Rayjon Tucker (1): 19
R-Sr. Cvjeticanin (1): 18
Fr. Reid: 18
R-So. Antravious Simmons: 17
R-So. Kevin Mickle: 14
R-Jr. Morant: 12
 
In a further testament to the youthful and talented group, Reid leads all A-Sun freshmen in assists per game (3.4), Johnson is 3rd among all A-Sun freshmen in scoring (10.7), Terrell is 2nd among all A-Sun sophomores in points per game (12.6), Simmons is 2nd among A-Sun sophomores in rebounds per game (4.6) and Norelia is 2nd among A-Sun juniors in rebounds per contest (8.9).
 
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
FGCU played a challenging non-conference schedule as all but two of its seven non-league losses came against top-120 RPI teams, including three losses to top-50 teams (#24 Texas A&M, 75-65; #41 Florida, 70-50;  #46 South Dakota State, 56-52) – and two of those three losses came by 10 points or less. FGCU also dropped an 85-75 decision at #88 Ohio, and a 66-63 contest to #117 Louisiana Tech.
 
MILESTONE MARK
FGCU won its 250th all-time game with an 85-56 decision over USC Upstate on Jan. 16. The Eagles enter Thursday's game with an all-time record (since 2002-03) of 255-185 (.580).
 
GOLDEN SUMMER
DeBose won a gold medal as part of Team USA at the World University Games (WUG) last 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.

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 118-88 (.573), and in his 2+ years with FGCU is 61-36 (.629).
 
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.