FORT MYERS, Fla. – Tavian Dunn-Martin (Huntington, W.Va./Huntington HS/Akron/Duquesne) scored a game-high 29 points to lead the FGCU men's basketball team to its third straight win, 77-67, over Western Michigan on Friday night in Alico Arena. The Eagles improved to 4-2 overall, while the Broncos fell to 1-4 overall.
 
The Green and Blue trimmed 10 first half turnovers to just five in the second half and shot 11-of-14 from the free throw line following the intermission to pull away after leading just 33-31 at the break.
 
"I thought we had a slow start tonight and the turnovers definitely hurt our rhythm in the first half. We challenged the team at halftime to bring up the tempo and cut down on the turnovers," said head coach Michael Fly. "They certainly did that and I though Tavian, Cyrus Largie, and Zach Anderson gave us some big minutes in the second half. It wasn't the prettiest game, but it was good to see them respond in the way that they did."
 
Dunn-Martin hit 10-of-17 shots from the floor and was 7-of-8 from the free throw line while adding five assists. He shot 7-of-10 in the second half alone to score 21 of his 29 points. Anderson (Orlando, Fla./Apopka HS) finished with 11 points, eight of which came in the second half bolstered by a pair of three pointers, while Largie (Miramar, Fla./Mater Lakes Academy) also had eight in the second half to finish the night with 10 points.
 
The ASUN's leading scorer, Dunn-Martin now has three games of 20-or-more points and is averaging 27.5 points over the last two games.
 
Lamar Norman, Jr., led WMU with 24 points going 8-of-17 from the floor and 5-of-12 from deep. Mack Smith scored 16 points, while Titus Wright and Markeese Hastings each had 10 points.
 
FGCU shot 26-of-55 from the field (47 percent) and 10-of-21 from beyond the arc, while the Broncos hit 24-of-54 shots and were 9-of-27 from deep. WMU committed 19 turnovers which led to 17 FGCU points, while the Eagles' 15 miscues were converted into just six points.
 
After the intermission, WMU jumped out to a 38-35 lead in just over two minutes. The Eagles responded with a 14-to-1 run featuring seven points from Dunn-Martin over the next four minutes to re-take a 49-39 lead.
 
The Eagles were able to build the lead to as many as 12 after a pair of Largie free throws with 8:09 remaining, but the Broncos fought back to trim the lead to 62-61 over the next five minutes.
 
That proved as close as WMU could get as FGCU closed out the night with a 15-to-6 run to give the final score. Anderson hit his second three-pointer of the night in that stretch, while Dunn-Martin also had a triple and closed the game with five free throws in the final 22 seconds.
 
FGCU will return to action on Saturday night as the Eagles host Southeastern Louisiana at 7 PM. Western Michigan will host Purdue Fort Wayne in the 4:30 PM game.
 
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.

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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 193-136 record (.583 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 86 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 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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.
 
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