DeLAND, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (21-10, 12-2 ASUN) wrapped up its regular season Thursday night as the Eagles stopped a mini two-game skid with an improved defensive effort in a 76-60 win over Stetson (12-19, 4-10 ASUN) to carry momentum into next week's ASUN Tournament.
 
Brandon Goodwin made one final case for the ASUN Player of the Year as the redshirt senior delivered a game-high 27 points and game-high-tying totals of eight rebounds and four assists to lead a trio of FGCU double-figure scorers.
 
Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) matched Goodwin's (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) rebound total with eight and also added 17 points. After missing the previous two games with an illness, RaySean Scott Jr. returned and delivered 11 points and six rebounds.
 
After uncharacteristically giving up consecutive 90-point games last weekend after clinching its second-straight outright regular-season title, FGCU got back to its defensive laurels which propelled the Eagles to Division-I program-record 13-game winning streak from late December through mid February.
 
FGCU held its sixth ASUN opponent of the year to 60 points or less as the Eagles limited the Hatters to just 35-percent shooting (21-60). In the other 42 ASUN games played all year not involving FGCU, only five times was a team held to 60 points or less.
 
"Our defense was a lot better tonight," commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley. "Those stops allowed us to get out in transition and get a flow going offensively. We did a good job of moving the ball and not turning it over as much. We played pretty unselfishly, and it's a good way to head into the ASUN Tournament."
 
The top-seeded Eagles have home-court advantage throughout the ASUN Tournament, and will begin their quest for a third-straight championship at Alico Arena on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. against 8th-seeded USC Upstate (7-24, 2-12 ASUN). Click here for ticket information.
 
Here are Monday's other quarterfinal matchups (higher seed hosts; all games on ESPN3):
 
No. 2 Lipscomb (10-4) vs. No. 7 Stetson (4-10) – 8 PM Eastern
No. 3 Jacksonville (8-6) vs. No. 6 Kennesaw State (6-8) – 7 PM
No. 4 NJIT (7-7) vs. No. 5 North Florida (7-7) – 7:30 PM
 
On Thursday in DeLand, FGCU established yet another milestone as the Eagles became the first school in the history of the ASUN (since 1978-79) to go undefeated on the road in league play in back-to-back seasons (7-0 in 2017; 7-0 in 2018). FGCU's seven-game road winning streak is now tied for the 3rd-longest in the nation, only behind Old Dominion's and Vermont's eight-game stretch.
 
FGCU got there in relatively easy fashion, despite not shooting well in the 1st half. Stetson never led, but the Eagles connected at only a 35-percent clip (11-31) in the opening 20 minutes to take a 33-26 lead into the halftime break.
 
The Hatters trimmed their deficit to two, 33-31, early in the 2nd half on Senior Night, but the Green and Blue responded with 7-0 spurt in 90 seconds, never led by fewer than seven the rest of the evening and held an edge of as much as 24 before defeating Stetson for the 18th time in the last 21 meetings.
 
Christiaan Jones came off the bench to finish as Stetson's only double-figure scorer with 11. After the Eagles held the Hatters to 31 percent from the floor in the 1st half, they limited the hosts to 39 percent (11-28) in the 2nd, while connecting at a 57-percent rate (16-28) of their own.
 
FGCU committed just 12 turnovers, and finished with a decided 42-30 rebounding edge.
 
The Eagles completed their second-straight 12-2 ASUN season, with the .857 winning percentage tied for the best in program history.
 
While Scott Jr. (Compton, Calif./Compton HS) returned to the FGCU lineup, sophomore Christian Carlyle (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny HS) missed his fifth-straight game with an ankle injury, continuing the stretch of FGCU not having its full complement of players for a single game all regular season.
 
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 five years: 2014 NIT; 2015 CIT; 2016 NCAA; 2017 NCAA; 2018 NCAA/NIT. 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 169-108 (.610), and in his 4 years with FGCU is 112-56 (.667). 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.