NEWARK, N.J. – Facing its most precarious road situation of the conference season, the FGCU men's basketball team (19-8, 10-0 ASUN) broke open a late-game tie with a 7-0 run en route to a 75-70 win Thursday night at NJIT (12-13, 5-5 ASUN) to remain perfect in the league.
 
With the triumph, the Eagles clinched at least a share of the ASUN regular-season title with still four games remaining, and can lock up the outright crown and No. 1 seed in the conference tournament with a victory on Saturday afternoon at USC Upstate (7-20, 2-8 ASUN).
 
FGCU extended its Division-I program-best winning streak to 12 in a row – tied for the 7th-longest in the nation currently – behind a quintet of double-figure scorers. Christian Terrell paced the group with 17 points – his highest output since Dec. 19 – as the southpaw was an efficient 5-6 from the floor and 5-6 from the free-throw line.
 
Zach Johnson (15), Brandon Goodwin (14), Antravious Simmons (12) and Dinero Mercurius (10) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Green and Blue, who shot 56 percent (25-45) from the floor – a clip needed as the Eagles committed 18 turnovers.
 
It was Mercurius (Orlando, Fla./Daytona State/UTRGV/USF/Faith Baptist Christian HS) who hit arguably the biggest shot of the night for FGCU. After NJIT overcame a 13-point deficit to tie the contest at 65-65, Michael Gilmore (Jacksonville, Fla./Miami/VCU/Rickards HS) saved a ball from going out of bounds and threw it back over his head to Mercurius. The lethal 3-point shooter did what he does best, knocking down the triple from the wing with the shot clock winding down and spearheading the 7-0 FGCU response.
 
That put the game out of reach as the Eagles continued their best-ever start to an ASUN season and extended their program-best road league winning streak to 12 and their overall conference winning streak to 14.
 
"We have good, experienced guards who played well tonight, and we also were able to throw the ball inside," commented FGCU head coach Joe Dooley, who was coaching just a half-mile from his high school alma mater of St. Benedict's Prep. "We got a little sloppy late in the game, and it almost cost us, but thankfully we were able to make the plays down the stretch."
 
After committing 16 turnovers combined in its previous two games, FGCU gave the ball away 10 times in the 1st half against the Highlanders, leading to 45 percent (13) of NJIT's 29 points as the Green and Blue went into the halftime break with a 35-29 lead.
 
The Eagles were able to keep the Highlanders at bay in the opening 20 minutes thanks in large part to a 54-percent shooting performance from the floor (15-28), including a 5-11 effort from the 3-point line.
 
After opening the 2nd half with a pair of turnovers in the first three minutes, FGCU finally clamped down and put together an 11-1 run – highlighted by a pair of alley-oop connections of Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) to Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) – to create a 47-34 lead at the 15-minute mark.
 
The Eagles maintained that double-figure edge until the midway point of the stanza before the Highlanders started to chip away and eventually knotted the contest. After the huge Mercurius 3-pointer, Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) followed it up with a steal and fastbreak layup before Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) connected on a pair of free throws at the 1:07 mark which – for all intents and purposes – iced the contest.
 
Abdul Lewis led all scorers with 23 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds for NJIT, while Anthony Tarke added 21 points and five rebounds for the Highlanders, who shot 45 percent (25-56) from the floor.
 
Goodwin just missed what would have been his fifth double-double of the year with a game-high-tying nine rebounds to go along with a game-best four assists.
 
The Eagles uncharacteristically scored just 26 points in the paint – 15 below their average – but made up for it by shooting 57 percent (8-14) from the 3-point line and 85 percent (17-20) from the free-throw stripe.
 
Through its first nine ASUN games, FGCU had trailed for a total of only 28:22 out of 360 minutes, and 15:58 of that came in one game at Lipscomb (12:24 total time trailing in the eight other ASUN contests). On Thursday, the Eagles continued that trend as FGCU trailed for only 1:18.
 
Making the current stretch for the Eagles even more impressive is that FGCU hasn't had a single game yet this season where all 12 scholarship players have been healthy/eligible. That continued on Thursday as FGCU was without Christian Carlyle (Jacksonville, Fla./Bishop Kenny HS) with an ankle injury. After missing the previous four games, Ricky Doyle (Cape Coral, Fla./Michigan/Bishop Verot HS) was cleared out of concussion protocol, but did not play as he continues to come back.
 
NOTEWORTHY: FGCU out-rebounded NJIT, 29-24 … Johnson failed to record a steal for the first time all year … Mercurius added a career-high four thefts … Terrell came off the bench and accounted for all but two of FGCU's 19 bench points.
 
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 167-106 (.611), and in his 4+ years with FGCU is 110-54 (.671). 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.