DUNK CITY, Fla. – In a New Year's Eve Day affair, the FGCU men's basketball team (9-8) closed out its non-conference schedule with a 62-54 win over Florida Tech (6-7) at Alico Arena, highlighted by a pair of milestone accomplishments for Zach Johnson and head coach Joe Dooley.
 
Johnson became just the ninth member of the program's 1,000-point club, while Dooley reached 100 career wins with the Eagles.
 
Dinero Mercurius came off the bench to score a team-best 15 – his highest output since netting a season-best 16 at UT Arlington on Dec. 9. Included in that total for Mercurius (Orlando, Fla./Daytona State/UTRGV/USF/Faith Baptist Christian HS) was three 3-pointers – a welcome sight for him and the Eagles as he had not made three or more from beyond the arc in the last four games after reaching that mark in six of his first seven games of the year.
 
Brandon Goodwin secured his third double-double of the year with 13 points and a season-best 11 assists to go along with a team-high six rebounds. Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) reached double-figure points for the 16th time in 17 contests this year, while fellow senior backcourt mate Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) tallied 10 points and secured five rebounds.
 
Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) entered the day needing two points to reach 1,000 for his career, and the guard reached the mark on a fastbreak layup at 8:25 of the 1st half – his only points of the opening stanza. In addition to becoming just the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 career points and second this season (Terrell), Johnson is only the third to do so as a junior, joining all-time leading scorer Bernard Thompson (1,835) and 2nd all-time leading scorer Brett Comer (1,477).
 
Along with Johnson's milestone mark, Dooley became the first coach in the Division-I history of the program (since 2007-08) to reach the century mark for wins. Now in his 5th season with the Eagles, Dooley is 100-54 (.650 winning percentage). He has the 2nd-most wins all-time, behind only Dave Balza's 153-121 mark in the program's first nine years from 2002-11.
 
The contest was tied on three occasions through the first six minutes, but with it knotted at 7-7 the Eagles rattled off a 14-1 run – including an 8-0 stretch – over six-and-a-half minutes to create a 21-8 lead before settling for a 32-23 halftime advantage.
 
FGCU maintained that cushion into the middle stages of the 2nd half before an 11-0 Florida Tech run gave the Panthers a 46-44 lead with less than eight minutes remaining. However, the Eagles responded with their own 11-0 run in less than two minutes to go back up nine, 55-46, and put the contest out of reach.
 
"We had some spurts where we were really good, and then we had a prolonged stretch where we were particularly bad," commented Dooley. "For them to get 31 points off of our turnovers and second-chance points is a problem and has been a bad recurring theme for us. We need to get that straightened out before we start conference play."
 
The victory was the second in three days for the Green and Blue to close out the calendar year as the Eagles shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the floor, while holding their second-straight opponent below 30 percent (29.5 percent, 18-61). However, the Panthers out-rebounded the Eagles, 42-33, producing a 16-4 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Florida Tech – a Division-II member based in Melbourne, Fla. – was paced offensively by Richard Coil with a double-double performance of 21 points and 12 rebounds. The Eagles held Sam Daniel, the 2nd-leading scorer in D-II at better than 27 per game, to just seven points.
 
The contest counted toward FGCU's overall record and statistics, but did not have any affect on the Eagles' RPI. The game served as an exhibition contest for Florida Tech.
 
Despite just the 9-8 mark through the non-conference schedule, FGCU has had plenty of postseason success recently when getting off to average beginnings. In 2015-16, FGCU was 7-7 through 14 games (what it was this year), but went on to post a 21-14 record, claim the ASUN Tournament title and win an NCAA Tournament game. In 2013-14, the Eagles went 6-7 in the non-conference schedule before finishing 22-13 overall, winning the ASUN regular season crown and playing in the NIT.
 
FGCU – the two-time defending ASUN Conference Champions – now has the upcoming week to prepare to defend those titles. League action opens up against rival Stetson at Alico Arena on Saturday, Jan. 6, at 7 p.m. The contest will be the nightcap of a doubleheader as the FGCU women face the Hatters in an ASUN Championship rematch at 4 p.m.
 
NOTEWORTHY: RaySean Scott Jr. (Compton, Calif./Compton HS) did not dress due to personal reasons … FGCU used its 11th different starting lineup, the most by any team in the nation this year … the Eagles have now tied or outscored their opponent in the paint in 15 of 17 contests (38-20 versus Florida Tech).
 
SOCIAL CENTRAL
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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 157-106 (.597), and in his 4+ years with FGCU is 100-54 (.649). 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.