Big First Half Sparks Stetson to 77-66 Win Over Men's Basketball
Cyrus Largie leads Eagles with 16 points; Dakota Rivers and Dom London add 12 each.
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – A 40-point first half sparked by 8-of-15 three-point shooting paved the way for Stetson (5-9, 3-5 ASUN) in a 77-66 win over the FGCU men's basketball team (7-6, 2-4 ASUN) on Saturday evening at Alico Arena.
 
"Tonight was a disappointing result and I thought we gave away an opportunity," said head coach Michael Fly. "Give credit to Stetson as they came out prepared and ready to play. I thought last night was as well as we've played defensively in a long time, but we couldn't sustain that tonight."
 
Cyrus Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) led the Eagles with 16 points and eight rebounds, while Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) also nearly had a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Dom London rounded out the top scorers for FGCU with 12 points as well.
 
Stetson's Rob Perry led all scorers with 30 points on 11-of-18 shooting with five three pointers. Chase Johnson notched 20 points as the only other Hatter in double-figures. Overall, Stetson hit 12 three pointers in the game though the bulk came in the first half.
 
In the first half, the Hatters used an 11-to-2 run and a 22-to-4 run to go up by as many as 20. Perry scored 16 of his points highlighted by four three pointers in those two streaks. In the final minute, Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) hit a pair of three pointers, including one at the buzzer, while Franco Miller, Jr. (Freeport, Bahamas/Ole Miss) added a lay-up to cut Stetson's lead to 40-26 at the break.
 
Stetson re-extended their lead to as many as 23 in the second half, but FGCU made a late run in the final four minutes of play. A Jalen Warren (Milton, Ontario/Eastern Florida State) three-pointer at the 3:50 mark sparked a 13-to-4 run for the Eagles as they closed the gap to give the final 77-66 score.
 
With this weekend's series originally set to be played on Feb. 5-6, the Eagles will find out if they play or have a bye week from the ASUN Conference at the beginning of the week as the league continues to modify the schedule to balance out games. Official schedule announcements will be released by the league office and shared by FGCU.
 
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 SCHEDULE & RESULTS
Friday, Jan. 29
Bellarmine 84, Kennesaw State 67
FGCU 64, Stetson 63
North Alabama 82, North Florida 78
Liberty 59, Jacksonville 54

Saturday, Jan. 30
Lipscomb 89, Bluefield State 56
Bellarmine 84, Kennesaw State 79
Stetson 77, FGCU 66
North Florida 82, North Alabama 72
Liberty 64, Jacksonville 58

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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 170-114 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--