NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Sophomore Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) scored a career-high 22 points leading the FGCU men's basketball team (6-4, 1-2 ASUN) to a 79-69 win over Lipscomb (9-8, 4-3 ASUN) at Allen Arena on Friday night. The two teams will meet again on Saturday night (8 PM ET/7 PM CT) with the game being streamed on ESPN+.
 
Largie's 22 points came on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor that included a pair of triples. He finished the night just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards in 33 minutes. Joining him in double-figures were junior Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) with 14 points and sophomore Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) with 11 points. Freshman Zach Anderson (Orlando, Fla./Apopka HS) was also just shy of a double-double with eight points and a career-best 12 rebounds.
 
"I thought tonight was a great showing of what we are capable of doing when we take care of the ball, hit shots, and sustain our play down the stretch," said head coach Michael Fly. "I told the team I was proud of how they handled Lipscomb's fast start and the big momentum swing to end the first half. Now we need to re-focus ourselves on tomorrow's game and make sure we bring the same effort and energy that we had tonight."
 
Overall, the Eagles shot 44.3 percent from the floor sparked by a 15-of-30 effort in the second half. The Eagles went 7-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second stanza and finished the night hitting 14-of-20 from the free throw line.
 
Defensively, FGCU was able to hold Lipscomb to just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc for the game with just three coming in the second half which allowed the Eagles to extend their lead late.
 
The first half was marked by two big runs followed by a late burst by the Bison who took a 36-32 lead into the intermission. Lipscomb opened the game with an 11-to-0 run in first four minutes of play. The Eagles responded with a 17-2 run that was highlighted by triples from Catto and Anderson. A free throw by redshirt sophomore Franco Miller, Jr. (Freeport, Bahamas/Ole Miss) put FGCU up 19-15 at the 10:03 mark.
 
Both teams traded points until the final 90 seconds of the opening stanza where Lipscomb scored six straight points to re-take the lead at the break.
 
The Bison opened the second half with a triple extending their run to 9-0, but a lay-up by Largie followed by a Rivers free throw and a Catto triple pulled FGCU back within one, 39-38.
 
FGCU hit 8-of-13, including 4-of-6 from deep, to start the second stanza which helped build out a 10-to-2 run for a 53-49 lead and the Eagles never trailed after that.
 
Lispcomb whittled the deficit to five, 68-63, with 3:56 remaining, but FGCU scored seven straight over the next two minutes. Down the stretch, Franco Miller, Jr., hit a pair of free throws as did Largie to close out the win.
 
The Bison were led by Romeao Ferguson who matched Largie with a game-high 22 points. Parker Hazen notched 15 points, while Ahsan Asadullah, who scored 40 points in the ASUN Quarterfinal meeting between the two teams last March, finished the night with 14 points and nine rebounds.
 
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.

UPCOMING ASUN SCHEDULE
Friday, Jan. 22
Kennesaw State 54, North Florida 69
Stetson 62, Bellarmine 67
Jacksonville 81, North Alabama 82 (OT)
Lipscomb 69, FGCU 79

Saturday, Jan. 23
Kennesaw State vs. North Florida - 5 PM
Stetson vs. Bellarmine - 5 PM
Jacksonville vs. North Alabama - 7 PM
FGCU vs. Lipscomb - 8 PM (CT)/7 PM (ET)


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 170-112 record (.603 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--