NEWARK, NJ – A double-double by freshman Dakota Rivers (Windermere, FL/Windermere HS) alongside a hot-shooting first half paced the FGCU men's basketball team (9-20, 6-8 ASUN) to a 55-39 road victory at NJIT (8-19, 5-9 ASUN) on Saturday evening.

The win moved FGCU into a three-way tie for fifth-place in the ASUN standings. The Eagles are tied with both of next week's opponents - Jacksonville and North Alabama. 
 
Rivers finished the game with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds – the most in a single-game this season for the Eagles and since RaySean Scott, Jr., had 14 against Florida International on Nov. 28, 2018. Rivers also added three blocked shots in his 23 minutes of playing time.
 
Sophomore Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, FL/Southwest Florida Christian Academy) led the Eagles overall in scoring with 13 points, while junior Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario/Eastern Florida State) also notched 10 points alongside six rebounds and six assists. In just his second start of the year, freshman Cyrus Largie (Miramar, FLA/Mater Lakes Academy) had eight points, six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot.
 
"We fully believe if you keep working and give full effort, then good things will happen," said head coach Michael Fly. "I think all the work they've put in is starting to pay off and I'm happy to see Dakota and Cyrus get rewarded for the effort they gave tonight. We've had a lot of close games this year and had some good defensive performances, but have struggled shooting at points. We moved Tracy (Hector) into more of a play-maker spot because of his passing and that allowed us to keep more shooters in the game which I think really opened up the floor."
 
NJIT was led by Zach Cooks who scored 18 points and was the only Highlander to reach double figures.
 
The Eagles took a 35-24 lead into the intermission thanks to a 20-2 run spanning the latter half of the opening stanza. FGCU shot 14-of-28 from the field while holding the Highlanders to just 9-of-29 shooting. After NJIT scored 11 straight to go up 15-10, back-to-back triples from Rivers and Largie ignited the run for FGCU. Junior Sam Gagliardi's (Gig Harbor, WA/Citrus College) three-pointer at the 2:21 mark put the Eagles up 30-17 capping the 20-2 run which was the largest of the season. A quick five-point burst by NJIT after that closed the gap, but Catto added another triple with 16 seconds to go giving FGCU the 11 point lead at the break.
 
In the second half, FGCU was able to control a double-figure lead for most of the period. NJIT used a 5-to-2 spurt in the opening three minutes to cut its deficit to eight, 37-29, but back-to-back buckets by Rivers and Hardy put the Eagles back in control with the Highlanders unable to really push back down the stretch.
 
After a Hardy jumper with 4:16 left in the game, FGCU held NJIT scoreless for the balance while knocking down four straight free throws to give the final margin of victory.
 
Overall, FGCU held a 42-to-33 advantage in rebounding sparked by Rivers' performance. That limited the extra possessions for the Highlanders who scored their second fewest amount of points for a single game this season.
 
The first half shooting performance for the Eagles cooled in the second half to finish the game at 20-of-55 overall and 8-of-21 from deep, but defensively, FGCU held the Highlanders to just 25.5 percent (14-of-55) for the game including 5-of-26 after the intermission.
 
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.
 

ASUN MEN'S BASKETBALL STANDINGS
SCHOOL	OVERALL	ASUN
Liberty *	26-3	12-2
North Florida *	19-11	12-3
Stetson *	15-14	9-5
Lipscomb *	13-15	8-7
Jacksonville *	13-16	6-8
North Alabama *	11-16	6-8
FGCU *	9-20	6-8
NJIT *	8-19	5-9
Kennesaw State	1-26	0-14

UPCOMING ASUN GAMES

Thursday, Feb. 27
NJIT at North Alabama (ESPN+)	6 PM CT
North Florida at Stetson (ESPN+)	7 PM
Liberty at Kennesaw State (ESPN+)	7 PM
Jacksonville at FGCU (ESPN+)	7 PM

 
 
BASKETBALL TICKET INFORMATION
FGCU basketball tickets for the 2019-20 season are on sale now including single-game tickets and the popular mini-plan options. For more information, contact an FGCU Ticket Office representative by calling 239-590-7145, visiting Alico Arena Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. or by visiting www.FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets. 

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 164-106 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 81 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just eight-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 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 (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 in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty-one consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall semester 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--