JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Playing without Brandon Goodwin, Ricky Doyle and RaySean Scott Jr., the FGCU men's basketball team (15-8, 6-0 ASUN) got contributions up and down the lineup en route to an impressive 96-87 road victory at North Florida (9-14, 3-3 ASUN) Wednesday night to secure the program's 300th all-time victory.
 
Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) scored a team-high 19 points, while Christian Carlyle netted 17, Dinero Mercurius tallied 16, Michael Gilmore added 14 and Brady Ernst contributed 10 as FGCU won its eighth-straight game behind a torrid 55.4-percent rate from the floor (36-65).
 
With the win, the Eagles remain in sole possession of 1st place in the ASUN, one game clear of Jacksonville at 5-1. FGCU and JU will square off in a pivotal battle Saturday night at Alico Arena, with a victory in that game giving the Eagles a two-game lead and the tiebreaker at the midway point of the conference season.
 
"I thought the guys responded well," stated FGCU head coach Joe Dooley of not having three players who had combined for 40 starts this season. "We came out with a lot of energy, and we talked about playing the right way, which for the most part we did. We got a little flustered in the 2nd half at times, but we responded to a few UNF runs – which we knew were going to come – very well."
 
The victory extended what is now tied for the 8th-longest winning streak in the nation, and extended FGCU's road ASUN winning streak to 10 in the row dating back to the 2015-16 regular-season finale.
 
As has been the case the last several years these two rivals have met, UNF tried to win the game from beyond the 3-point line, while FGCU pounded the ball inside. The Ospreys attempted an incredible 47 3-pointers, making 16 (34 percent), but the Eagles finished with a 56-26 edge in points in the paint.
 
Entering Wednesday – in their previous eight meetings since the start of the 2014-15 season – FGCU outscored UNF in the paint seven times and by an average of 40.2 to 26.1. Conversely, UNF made more 3-pointers than FGCU in six of the eight games, averaging 9 made 3s over that time, while the Eagles converted 4.6 per game.
 
FGCU posted a 46-28 rebounding advantage, and finished with a 34-8 cushion in bench points as Dunk City showed why its 2017-18 moniker is quickly becoming Depth City.
 
Leading the charge off the bench was Carlyle (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny HS) as the River City native enjoyed his homecoming in front of several friends and family as the sophomore posted his third-highest point total of his career on 6-10 from the floor and 5-5 from the free-throw line.
 
Fellow Jacksonville native Gilmore (Jacksonville, Fla./Miami/VCU/Rickards HS) secured his first double-double with career highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds, with 12 of those points and 10 of those rebounds coming in the 2nd half after playing five foul-plagued minutes in the opening stanza.
 
In Gilmore's absence in the 1st half, it was Mercurius (Orlando, Fla./Daytona State/UTRGV/USF/Faith Baptist Christian HS) scoring 11 of his 16, knocking down three of his first four 3-point attempts before finishing with a season-high-tying four triples.
 
Ernst (Iowa/Indian Hills CC/Iowa State/Clinton HS) scored a season-high 10 points and corralled seven rebounds – his most against a Division-I opponent – as the redshirt sophomore was an efficient 5-6 from the floor and also passed out three assists in 20 minutes. Ernst becomes the 11th different FGCU player to reach double-figure points in a game this year – tied for the 4th-most in the country.
 
With the game knotted at 12-12, Mercurius hit a 3-pointer from the wing in front of the UNF bench at the 13-minute mark, and FGCU didn't trail the rest of the night. The Eagles built a lead as large as 13 in the 1st half, and entered the halftime break with a 53-41 lead after shooting 60 percent (24-40). The 52 points for FGCU are the most in a 1st half this year against a D-I opponent.
 
The Green and Blue's lead ballooned to as much as 14 early in the 2nd half before the Ospreys stormed back and trimmed their deficit to just three, 75-72, with 8 minutes showing. However, the Eagles got just enough stops down the stretch, and made 18 of 20 free throws in the closing 20 minutes to secure their sixth-straight win over UNF.
 
North Florida – which had the only other 1st-place vote in the ASUN Preseason Poll besides FGCU's seven – was led by 28 points from JT Escobar, while Garrett Sams tallied 20, Trip Day added 13 and Noah Horchler recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
 
The Ospreys, who now lead the nation in 3-pointers made, shot 41.1 percent (30-73) from the floor. However, UNF – which leads the ASUN in scoring – also ranks last in defense, and that was evident on Wednesday as FGCU tied its 2nd-most points in an ASUN regulation game in program history, bested only by a 100-point performance against Jacksonville on Feb. 6, 2014.
 
Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) just missed a double-double with nine points and a season-best 10 rebounds, while freshman Brian Thomas (Kennesaw, Ga./Kell HS) continued his upward tick with seven points and four rebounds in only 10 minutes. Jacksonville product Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) scored just four points, but passed out a team-best six assists.
 
FGCU hasn't had a single game yet this season where all 12 scholarship players have been healthy or eligible, and that continued on Wednesday as the Eagles were without their leading scorer (17.5), rebounder (5.7) and assist (5) man in Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS), and 13-game starter Doyle (Cape Coral, Fla./Michigan/Bishop Verot HS) (5.7 points, 3.7 rebounds) due to a coach's decision. Additionally, FGCU was without Scott Jr. (Compton, Calif./Compton HS) (5.8 points, 4.9 rebounds) as he remains in concussion protocol.
 
Despite all that, the Eagles continued their best-ever start to an ASUN season, continuing to surpass the 4-0 mark set in 2015-16. The Eagles have now won their first six league games by an average of 16.7 points. FGCU continues to close in on its D-I program record of 10-straight wins set by the 2014-15 team.
 
The next opponent in the way of that record is Jacksonville as the 2nd-place Dolphins head to Alico Arena for a crucial showdown on Saturday night at 7.
 
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 163-106 (.606), and in his 4+ years with FGCU is 106-54 (.663). 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.