FGCU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 5	FIU (4-1) vs. FGCU (3-1)
Date // Time	Wednesday, Dec. 16 // 7:00 p.m.
Location	Fort Myers, Fla. // Alico Arena
Live Statistics	Stat Broadcast
Promotion	White Out | Food Drive | Toy Drive
Watch Online	ESPN+
Game Notes	FGCU Notes
Tickets	www.FGCUTickets.com // Call: 866-FGCU-TIX
Twitter	@FGCU_MBB // @FGCUEagles
Instagram	FGCU Men's Basketball
Facebook	FGCU Men's Basketball
NCAA Whistle No. 2 - This episode focuses on a Cylinder Play and an Inbound Play.

FORT MYERS, Fla. - After a thrilling win at Miami (66-62) last Saturday, the FGCU men's basketball team returns to Alico Arena to kickoff a five-game home stand on Wednesday night against Florida International. Tip-off is set for 7 PM and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. The game will be the first of two this week as the Eagles will also host Webber International on Friday night.

Single-game tickets, along with several mini-plan packages, are on sale now through the Alico Arena Ticket Office. Fans are encouraged to order tickets online through www.FGCUTickets.com or by calling 866-FGCU-TIX. FGCU is using mobile ticketing this year as part of its COVID-19 protocols so please check www.FGCUTickets.com for complete details or call the ticket office to speak with a customer service representative. Fans who order one of the four-game mini-plans that are offered, they will also receive their choice of an Eagles hat, bag, or t-shirt!

Early in the season, FGCU is led by Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario/Eastern Florida State) and Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) who are averaging 14.3 and 14.0 points per game, respectively. On the strength of three straight double-figure games, Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) is the third-leading scorer for FGCU with 10.5 points per outing.

Though it has just been four games, several Eagles are well represented among the ASUN leaders. Eli Abaev (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Austin Peay) is tied for second in the league with 8.3 rebounds per game, while Warren's 56.3 field goal percentage is fifth-best. Catto ranks eighth overall in scoring average, while Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) ranks 2nd with 1.3 blocks per night. Luis Rolon jumped up to fourth in the league standings with 4.0 assists after dishing out eight against Miami.

The Panthers enter Wednesday's contest led by Antonio Daye, Jr., who is averaging 19.2 points per game. Four others are averaging double-figures with Radshad Davis second on team with 13.6 points per night alongside 7.4 rebounds. Last Saturday, FIU fell on the road at North Florida, 80-77, for its first loss of the year. 

BEST START SINCE 2015-16
• With a 3-1 start to the year, FGCU is off to its best beginning since 2015-16 where the Eagles had the same record. The best starts prior to that was 5-1 in 2014-15 and 4-1 in 2013-14. The best start ever in program history was 2003-04 where FGCU started 14-0. 

BEYOND THE ARC
The victory over the Hurricanes was propelled by the Eagles' three-point shooting, as the team hit 13 triples overall. In addition to tying the program's record for the 10th-most treys in single-game history, it stands as the most ever made against a Power 5 opponent. Both Rivers (5-of-11) and Catto (4-of-7) recorded double-digit points from long range.

BLOCK PARTY
With the addition of his two blocks from Saturday's contest, Rivers now ranks ninth all-time in FGCU's career record book (44). He needs just six more to surpass former Eagle Marc-Eddy Norelia (2014-17) for eighth-place. If Rivers is able to collect 24 more blocks this season, he will crack into the all-time top five.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
Eli Abaev has made his presence known in his first season in Fort Myers, having hauled in a team-best 33 rebounds. His 8.3 boards per game are the tied for the second-most in the ASUN and he is joined in the top 10 by Cyrus Largie's 4.8. Largie is the only other member of the Green & Blue to have cracked 20 rebounds this season with 25 total. In just four contests, he's already collected nearly half of the boards he posted during his rookie season with (59).

PROTECT THE ROCK... OR ELSE
In the season's first four games, FGCU has proven to be a menace to teams that can't protect the basketball. The Eagles' 8.5 steals per contest pace the ASUN and freshman Luis Rolon (Ponce, Puerto Rico/Central Pointe Christian Academy) tops the league with 2.00 steals per game. His eight grabs overall pace all conference rookies and are the second-most overall.

PANTHERS VS EAGLES
This will be the 13th meeting in the history between FGCU and FIU, which began in the 2002 season. The series currently favors the Panthers 7-5, though the Eagles do own a 3-2 edge at The Nest. A win on Wednesday would be FGCU's first since the 2016 season, which was an 82-63 decision. The Panthers entered this past weekend with a perfect, 4-0 mark, but dropped their contest against UNF (80-77). Overall, FIU has shown the capability of being a high-scoring team with an 83.0 point per night average early.

HOME SWEET HOME
With a 2-0 record at home this year, FGCU sports an impressive advantage at Alico Arena, a.k.a., The Nest. The Eagles hold a 214-77 record in Alico Arena (75.4%) including a 107-34 record (81%) over the last nine years. FGCU was 10-4 at home in 2018-19 with a 7-1 conference mark (best in the ASUN). 

FGCU Hosts 11 NCAA Games In First Five Days Of 2020-21
With the college basketball tip-off moved to Nov. 25, quite a few schedule changes were made. Included in that was the moving of the women's Beach Bubble tournament to Alico Arena. Between the opening day games for both the men's and women's teams on Nov. 25 and the nine Beach Bubble games, FGCU hosted 11 games in the first five days of the season. 

MORED EXPERIENCED IN 2020-21
FGCU entered the 2020-21 campaign with 70-percent of its scoring back in the line-up along with seven players who saw significant action in 25-or-more games during the 2019-20 season. That total alone puts FGCU ahead of this past year where the Eagles had just 22-percent of its scoring coming back and three players who saw key minutes. 

LAST TIME OUT - WIN OVER MIAMI
At the end of a game in Coral Gables that saw 10 lead changes and as many ties, it was FGCU that came out on top, as the Eagles handed host Miami (3-1) a 66-62 loss at the Watsco Center last Saturday. Caleb Catto led the team with 18 points and was joined in the double-digit scoring effort by both Dakota Rivers and Eli Abaev, who put up 15 and 11, respectively.

"I'm so happy for our team, as this was a true example of taking the scouting report to the court," said Michael Fly. "I felt like today we played up to our standard and I'm proud of the guys for how they executed the game plan and for sticking together. I thought our players did a great job of stepping up to sustain momentum at different points, whether a big offensive or defensive play, to keep things close throughout. We're going to enjoy this win today but what's more important is that we learn to build from how we played overall. We won the game today because we cut down our turnovers, we hit open shots, and we stuck to the game plan from start to finish."

The Eagles' 13 threes in the game tie for the 10th-most made in the program's single-game history. They are also the most that FGCU has ever made against a Power 5 opponent.

CATTO NAMED ASUN PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOLLOWING MIAMI WIN
For the first time in his career, Caleb Catto has been named ASUN Player of the Week. The honor comes on the heels of FGCU's 66-62 upset win at Miami. The guard racked up a team-high 18 points during the game against the Hurricanes, finishing his night 7-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-7 from long range. Catto also hauled in three rebounds and added both an assist and a steal. The win over the Hurricanes marked the Eagles second-straight in that series, as the team also downed Miami during the historic 2012-13 season.

MILLER ONE OF 123 BAHAMIAN NCAA HOOPERS SINCE '99
According to RealGM.com, FGCU redshirt sophomore Franco Miller, Jr., is one of 123 Bahamians to play NCAA basketball since 1999. Miller hails from Freeport where he learned the game from his father, Franco, Sr.  Millers basketball journey has taken him from the Bahamas to Canada to Mississippi and now to Fort Myers. Prior to the season, he was granted an immediate elgibility waiver after transferring from Ole Miss with three years remaining (in addition to a possible bonus COVID relief year).

COACH FLY RAISES FUNDS FOR CLIPS FOR CANCER
In September, head coach Michael Fly took part in Clips For Cancer as he raised over $5,000 to support Barbara's Friends at the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida. 

Over the last 25 years, Barbara's Friends has helped over 8,000 local Southwest Florida children with cancer and blood disorders. The Clips For Cancer event raises funds to help support that cause.

Fly blew past his initial goal of $2,500 early in the campaign and had accumlated just over $5,000 on the day his head was shaved by Lilly Bendell - seven year old who spent two years in intensive treatment at Golisano as an infant when she was diagnosed with leukemia at just four months old.

To support Lilly and Barbara's Friends, Coach Fly has kept his head shaved since.

Upcoming ASUN Games:
Wednesday, Dec. 16
FIU at FGCU - 7 PM
Kennesaw State at Belmont

Thursday, Dec. 17
Crowley's Ridge College at North Alabama - 7 PM

Friday, Dec. 18
Thomas at Stetson - 6 PM
Webber International at FGCU - 7 PM

Saturday, Dec. 19
Jacksonville at Miami - 3:30 PM
Samford at Kennesaw State - 4:30 PM
Flagler at North Florida - 5:00 PM
Middle Tennessee at Bellermine - 7 PM

For complete coverage of FGCU men's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MBB and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

SUSTAINING FLIGHT 
To help offset the financial impact of COVID-19, FGCU Athletics has launched the Sustaining Flight Fundraiser. The fundraising campaign will help mitigate operational revenue loss and the additional expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 protocols. All funds raised during the campaign will go to support areas that directly impact student-athletes. For more information, visit www.fgcuathletics.com/sustainingflight. 
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
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 his time with the Eagles, he helped FGCU to a 167-109 record (.618 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 16. He has coached 13 all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and Brandon Goodwin, two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant and one ASUN Newcomer of the Year in Schadrac Casimir. 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).
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate (APR) in their sport and have had the highest percentage of teams so honored from these two groups over each of the past three years. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--