TAMPA, Fla. – An early 14-point deficit proved too big a hole to climb out of as the FGCU men's basketball team (1-1) fell 76-57 at USF (2-2) on Wednesday night at the Yuengling Center. Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario/Eastern Florida State) and Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) led the Eagles with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
 
FGCU will return to action this Saturday as Florida National visits Alico Arena (7 PM). Single-game tickets and mini-plans are available for purchase by visiting www.FGCUtickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX.
 
"Credit Coach Gregory and his players – I thought they came in with a mindset that they had to win the game," said head coach Michael Fly. "I think when we watch the tape, we'll see that when we needed a defensive stop or rebound, they were just more physical than us. We didn't shoot the ball well, which I think will be uncharacteristic of us moving forward, but we did clean up some of the turnovers overall."
 
Warren's 15 points came on 6-of-10 shooting, while Largie's 12 points tied his career-high. He was 5-of-9 from the floor and added six rebounds. Franco Miller, Jr. (Freeport, Bahamas/Ole Miss) added 10 points, highlighted by three triples, to round out the top scorers for FGCU.
 
"I think with our team, we're going to have really good ball movement and be hard to guard as we go forward in the year," said Fly. "We didn't drive and kick the way we need to, but I know that's going to progress. We have a lot of good teaching points from the film and we'll work to correct to mistakes before Saturday."
 
The Bulls were led by Michael Durr who notched 14 points and nine rebounds and Alexis Yetna who had 13 points and nine rebounds. Caleb Murphy and Justin Brown had 12 points and 10 points, respectively, to round out the top scorers.
 
USF opened up the game on an 18-4 run in the first 5:31 of play. Despite the deficit, FGCU was able to trim the Bulls lead to single digits, 23-14, after scoring seven straight points highlighted by a Miller three pointer and a Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) dunk with 10:59 to go.
 
Two other times in the first half, FGCU was able to cut the lead to nine points, but the Bulls closed the opening stanza on a 13-to-4 run taking a 41-24 lead into the intermission.
 
After the break, Miller hit a pair of triples sandwiched around an Eli Abaev (Deerfield Beach, Fla./Austin Peay) dunk pulling the Eagles back within nine, 41-32, at the 18:21 mark.
 
The teams traded buckets over the next four minutes with a pair of USF three-pointers helping stretch the lead to 13 points. A six-point run from USF extended the Bulls lead to 18 with 11:54 remaining.
 
The Eagles were unable to string together any runs to climb back as the Bulls closed out the game for the 76-57 win.
 
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 and Auction. 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.
 
In lieu of hosting the annual Night at the Nest gala this year, one of FGCU's most successful fundraising events, the department will be hosting a virtual, online auction from Monday, Nov. 30 through Friday, Dec. 4. Fans and supporters will be able to bid on exclusive memorabilia, trip packages, unique event experiences and more. 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 165-109 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--