DUNK CITY, Fla. – Led by an FGCU ASUN Tournament record 28 points from Brandon Goodwin, the top-seeded FGCU men's basketball team (25-7) never trailed en route to a 74-62 semifinal win over 5th-seeded Kennesaw State (14-18) Thursday night at Alico Arena to advance to its 5th ASUN Championship Final appearance in only six seasons of eligibility.
 
The Eagles will host 3rd-seeded North Florida (15-18), which went to Nashville and shot 16-24 from 3-point range to upend 2nd-seeded Lipscomb (20-13), 91-85. Tipoff on Sunday is set for 3 p.m., and the game will air live on ESPN.
 
General-admission tickets are now on sale to Sunday's Final by visiting FGCUTickets.com. A standing-room-only sellout crowd is expected, so fans are strongly encouraged to secure their seats in advance, including FGCU students' free tickets. The Alico Arena Ticket Office will be open beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday, and fans can also call 239-590-7145 to secure their tickets or acquire additional information.
 
Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) guided the Eagles back to the ASUN title game by going 11-17 from the floor – setting the FGCU conference tournament record for made field goals. The 28 points are one shy of matching his career high as the redshirt junior did all that work in just 29 minutes of action.
 
Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) stepped up with his second-straight double-double as the redshirt senior grabbed a game-best 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points. Demetris Morant rounded out the trio of FGCU double-figure scorers with 14 points as the Eagles shot 54.4 percent (31-57) from the floor.
 
FCCU held a 34-31 halftime lead before starting the 2nd half on a 6-0 run as Goodwin spearheaded that effort with two buckets and a dish to Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) for a dunk to open up a nine-point edge.
 
Kennesaw State had its deficit back down to seven, 46-39, with 13 minutes remaining, but that's when ASUN Newcomer of the Year Goodwin hit a 3-pointer and then followed with the assist on a Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) 3-pointer on the next possession. Those consecutive 3s pushed the FGCU lead to 52-39 and for all intents and purposes finished off the Owls as they got no closer than 12 the rest of the night.
 
"We had some good spurts to start the 2nd half. The guys did a good job of getting some defensive stops and getting out in transition," commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, whose FGCU teams are now an incredible 68-4 when leading at the half. "With the exception of the last few minutes of the game I thought we were really good defensively. We got some good help off the bench as well and we didn't have to play too many guys a lot of minutes."
 
The Eagles – like they did in the quarterfinals against Stetson – dominated in the low blocks, finishing with a 54-26 edge in points in the paint. Combined with its 38-16 advantage in the paint against the Hatters, FGCU has outscored its first two ASUN Tournament opponents by 50 points in the paint.
 
Helping fuel that low-post offense is FGCU putting the dunk back in Dunk City, as the Eagles threw down five slams on Thursday to match the iconic and original Dunk City Sweet Sixteen team with 148. However, those 148 for the Eagles in 2012-13 came in 37 total games; this year's version has matched that in just 32 contests.
 
The Eagles entered the game leading the nation in points in the paint at 41.1 per game and showed why again against the Owls, who have now lost to the Eagles 14-straight times – the longest losing streak ever by a current ASUN member against another current member.
 
KSU was led by ASUN First Team member Kendrick Ray with 27 points, while Nick Masterson tallied 16 points to finish as the only double-figure scorers for the Owls, who shot 43.4 percent (23-53) from the floor. The Owls entered the game with the 2nd-best 3-point percentage in the nation at 41.6 and were nearly right on that rate again as they connected at a 42.9-percent clip (6-14).
 
The win moves FGCU to within one victory of matching the program's Division-I single-season record for victories of 26 set by the 2012-13 squad. It also sets up a rematch of last year's ASUN Championship semifinal when the 4th-seeded Eagles went to top-seeded UNF and clipped the Ospreys in record fashion, 89-56, on their way to a second ASUN Tournament title in four years.
 
The Eagles will be looking to make it three NCAA Tournament appearances in the last five seasons on Sunday. FGCU already owns three victories in March Madness over the past four years – the only current ASUN team which has won an NCAA Tournament game.

NOTEWORTHY: The previous FGCU ASUN Tournament record for points was 25 set by Bernard Thompson against USC Upstate in the 2015 semifinal … Norelia had the previous mark for made field goals with 10 set at UNF in the last year's semifinal.

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 4th season with the Eagles in 2016-17 and has coached nine all-conference selections over his first four 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 147-97 (.602), and in his 3+ years with FGCU is 90-45 (.667).
 
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.