DUNK CITY, Fla. – Returning to action after a week break for final exams, the FGCU men's basketball team (7-5) got off to a poor start and never recovered Saturday night in a disappointing 83-64 setback to Oral Roberts (4-9) at Alico Arena.
 
Brandon Goodwin led FGCU offensively with 20 points – his fourth-straight 20+ performance – and added five assists. Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) scored 14 points, including a season-high-tying four 3-pointers, and making his Green and Blue debut Michael Gilmore reached double-figure points with 10 while also corralling four rebounds and passing out two assists.
 
Facing an Oral Roberts' zone defense, the Golden Eagles' atypically bothered FGCU as the Green and Blue turned the ball over 16 times. The Summit League member also finished with a 40-20 advantage on the glass – tied for FGCU's worst rebounding deficit (20 vs. Florida State in the NCAA Tournament last year) since the 2009-10 season against SMU (-21). That rebounding margin also led to a 19-9 edge in second-chance points for ORU.
 
However, the biggest difference in the game came in the paint. FGCU led the nation in points in the paint last year, and had either tied or out-scored 10 of their first 11 opponents in the paint this season, but Oral Roberts took advantage down low. ORU finished with an incredible 58-22 edge in points in the paint, helping lead to its 54-percent field-goal rate.
 
"Oral Roberts were the aggressors all game; they had more energy, and energy finds the ball," surmised FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "It was an abysmal performance by us; partly created by them and partly created by us. I apologize to our fans – they shouldn't have to put up with watching that type of performance."
 
FGCU – coming off one of its best road wins in program history at then-#2 mid-major UT Arlington – dug a hole as large as 14 in the 1st half, and trimmed the deficit to as little as four in the 2nd half. However, the Eagles could get no closer as they dropped their third-straight home game after entering this season 75-14 at The Nest since the 2012-13 campaign.
 
In its five losses now, FGCU has a -8 average rebounding margin and is -49 in second-chance points. By comparison, in its seven wins, FGCU is averaging a +15.1 rebounding margin and is +47 in second-chance points.
 
Saturday marked the debut of Gilmore (Jacksonville, Fla./Miami/VCU/Rickards HS), who last played in March of 2016 in the NCAA Tournament for VCU. Gilmore transferred to Miami in the summer of 2016 before joining the Eagles this past January.
 
The nephew of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Artis Gilmore, the 6-10 redshirt junior started and scored his first basket on an alley-oop from Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) – who finished with a game-best eight assists – at the 5-minute mark, but then picked up his second foul just moments later and spent a good chunk of the opening half on the bench.
 
Trailing by 14, 33-19, with six minutes remaining in the 1st half, Dooley went back to Gilmore off the bench, and while he didn't stuff the stat sheet, the Eagles' offense flowed much better in the closing minutes as they trimmed the deficit in half by the intermission, 42-35.
 
Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) – who came off the bench – paced that attack in the opening stanza as he tallied 16 points in just 14 1st-half minutes on 6-8 shooting and 3-5 from 3-point range – tied for his season high in a game.
 
The Eagles got the deficit down to the aforementioned four with 13 minutes left after a Dinero Mercurius (Orlando, Fla./Daytona State/UTRGV/USF/Faith Baptist Christian HS) 3-pointer, but that would be as close as FGCU got the rest of the night.
 
FGCU shot 44.4 percent (25-54) from the floor and made a season-high 11 3-pointers, but the Eagles couldn't slow down Javan White and Emmanuel Nzekwesi on the defensive end. White finished with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds – a total matched by Emmanuel, who concluded with 24 points of his own.
 
FGCU will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at cross-state foe FIU for a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Panthers are 5-6 on the year after falling at James Madison on Saturday night, 76-67.
 
TOYS FOR TOTS
The FGCU Athletics Department, FGCU Police Department, Lee County Sheriff's Office and Heroes Unlimited have teamed up to participate in a holiday toy drive. New, unwrapped toys are being collected, and will be delivered to the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida on Friday, Dec. 23. Collection boxes have been placed in the lobbies of Alico Arena, UPD and the FGCU Family Resource Center until Wednesday, Dec. 20. No toy is too small, and all toys will be wrapped prior to delivery.
 
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 5th season with the Eagles in 2017-18 and has coached eight all-conference selections in that time. He has led FGCU to 20+ win seasons and postseason appearances in all four years: 2014 NIT; 2015 CIT; 2016 NCAA; 2017 NCAA. Dooley was named the 2017 ASUN Coach of the Year and the 2017 NABC District 3 Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to a D-I program record 26 wins. In 8+ seasons overall as a head coach, Dooley has a record of 155-103 (.600), and in his 4+ years with FGCU is 98-51 (.660). 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.
 
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.