FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (14-17, 9-7 ASUN) wrapped up the regular season with a gritty 77-74 victory at Jacksonville (12-19, 5-11 ASUN) Friday night in Historic Swisher Gymnasium.
With the triumph, the Eagles finished in a tie for third with North Florida in the final ASUN Conference standings. The Green and Blue will be the No. 4 seed in the upcoming ASUN Men's Basketball Championship and will host No. 5 seed NJIT at 7 p.m. March 4 in Alico Arena. The two teams split their regular-season matchups, with FGCU claiming a 57-55 win over the Highlanders (20-11, 8-8 ASUN) at home on Feb. 13.
Tickets are on sale as of 10:30 p.m. Friday. The box office will be open from Noon – 5 p.m. Saturday and will open again at 9 a.m. Monday. Fans can go to fgcutickets.com at any time to claim their tickets.
The win for FGCU snapped a four-game losing skid on the road and gave the Eagles the season sweep over the Dolphins.
"I'm really proud of our guys for digging that out. (Swisher Gymnasium) has historically been a really hard place for us to play. We've taken some tough ones here. Credit to Jacksonville because they're playing really hard," FGCU coach
Michael Fly said. "Our guys stepped up and made some big plays down the stretch. (Jacksonville) went on that run and we staggered for a minute, but we got up off the mat and threw one more haymaker at them."
Senior
Dinero Mercurius (Orlando, FL/Faith Baptist Christian/Daytona State) led FGCU with 12 points, while classmate
Schadrac Casimir (Stamford, CT/Trinity Catholic/Iona) added 11 and sophomore
Troy Baxter Jr. (Tallahassee, FL/Oldsmar Christian/UNLV) contributed 10. All nine players that stepped on the floor scored at least five, and seven different Eagles scored at least eight.
JD Notae led JU with a game-high 29 points. David Bell and Jalyn Hinton both finished with 11.
FGCU finished 14-for-23 (60.7 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. The 14 made 3-pointers was the highest total in an ASUN game this year and second-most all season. The Eagles shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) overall and 63.6 percent (7-for-11) at the free-throw line. The Dolphins shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field, 34.6 percent (9-for-26) from behind the arc and 58.3 percent (7-for-12) at the charity stripe.
Neither team found an advantage through the opening seven minutes. FGCU clung to an 11-10 lead and went on a quick 7-0 run to move on top by eight. JU kept it within six at 33-27 with five minutes remaining in the first half, but the Green and Blue powered on a 14-6 run to create 14 points of distance. Jacksonville made a basket at the buzzer to cut the deficit down to 49-38 at the break. The 49 points were the second-most against an ASUN opponent in the opening half this season.
FGCU kept the momentum into the second half and went on top 57-40 at the 17:27 mark. From that point on, Jacksonville went on a huge 27-10 tear across the next nine minutes to find a way to tie the Eagles at 67-67. The game was tight the rest of the way. Junior
RaySean Scott Jr. (Compton, CA/Compton HS) hit a contested 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock with 4:38 to play to give FGCU a three-point lead, but Notae scored the next five points to put JU on top 72-70. Scott Jr. converted a layup on the next possession, and Casimir rained another triple with the shot clock winding down to put the Eagles ahead 75-72 with 55.2 remaining.
Notae missed two final 3-point attempts and Mercurius calmly sank a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left to give the Eagles the victory.
FGCU outrebounded JU 38-27 and also led in assists (19-11), second-chance points (13-6) and points off the bench (31-19).
"Being able to host a game in the tournament is huge for our fans and it's great for our players. Obviously we play well at home," Fly said. "My hope is Alico Arena is what it's been in March historically, which is the hardest place to play in the state of Florida and one of the hardest places to play in the entire country. I'm hoping the fans will come out and support us like they have all season. We'll be prepared and we'll be ready. Obviously we split with NJIT this year, so we know it's going to be a tough matchup. We like playing in Fort Myers, and we're excited to get home and prepare for the Highlanders."
ASUN CHAMPIONSHIP QUARTERFINAL TICKETS ON SALE NOW
The FGCU Ticket Office has Reserved and General Admission Tickets available for the ASUN Championship Quarterfinal game that will be held in Alico Arena at 7 p.m. Monday. Tickets are on sale 24/7 at fgcutickets.com. The box office will be open from noon-5 pm Saturday and all day beginning at 9 a.m. Monday.
For more information, contact the FGCU Ticket office by phone at 239-590-7145.
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 FLY
Michael Fly was introduced as the fourth FGCU men's basketball head coach on April 5, 2018. He had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach on the Eagles' staff. In that time, he helped FGCU to a 155-86 record (.643 winning percentage), including six ASUN Tournament Final appearances, three NCAA Tournament victories, three ASUN Tournament titles and three ASUN Regular Season Championships, two berths in the NIT, a CIT appearance and a run to the Sweet Sixteen. He has coached a dozen all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and
Brandon Goodwin, and two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant. Of the top-10 players in career points at FGCU, Fly has helped develop eight of them, including all-time leading scorer Thompson (1,835). Additionally, the Kentucky alumnus has coached both the ASUN all-time assists leader Brett Comer (845; 24th in NCAA history) and FGCU all-time leading rebounder Chase Fieler (714).
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.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 74 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 34 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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