FGCU-Kansas City box score | FGCU season stats

ESTERO, Fla. – Three days. Three wins. One trophy for the Alico Arena trophy case to begin the Pat Chambers era at FGCU.  
 
The FGCU men's basketball team (5-2) got a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds from junior forward Zach Anderson (Apopka, Fla./Apopka HS) and 14 from senior guard Isaiah Thompson (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) in a 73-59 victory over Kansas City (3-5) on Wednesday night in the championship game of the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase at Alico Arena. 
 
Thompson, who averaged 17.0 points per game, including a career-high 27 in the semifinal, was named the Gulf Coast Showcase Most Valuable Player. Anderson was named to the GCS All-Tournament Team along with East Carolina's Jevon Small, Indiana State's Xavier Bledson and Kansas City's RayQuawndis Mitchell, who scored 29 points in the final. 
 
Four Eagles scored in double figures with senior guard Dahmir Bishop (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter/Xavier/St. Joseph's) joining Anderson and Thompson with 12 points and junior guard Chase Johnston (Boca Raton, Fla./Westminster Academy/Stetson) with 10. Redshirt sophomore center Andre Weir (Hollywood, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna College Prep/Richmond) tied his career best with a team-best 11 rebounds for the third straight night. 
 
"I'm proud of these guys," said FGCU head men's basketball coach Pat Chambers. "It's not easy with a new coach and some new players. We came in and they just wanted to please me, please our staff and get better. That's what we are seeing. We won these games in July, with our strength program and staff buying in from the start. I kept saying from June and all summer long 'back-to-back-to-back' – to get ready for it, to have the mental toughness for it. We just went out and proved we did." 
 
FGCU's defense has been stingy all season, holding opponents to 61 points or less in all five wins. That trend proved itself early Wednesday night – as the Eagles held the Roos to 23 first-half points and only nine field goals. The Eagles converted 11 Kansas City miscues into 19 points while committing only three turnovers themselves.
 
On the offensive end, FGCU came out firing early. Anderson drained a 22-foot 3 just 15 seconds into the game, and Johnston added two more in an 11-0 FGCU scoring burst that made it 18-7. That early lead allowed the Green & Blue to absorb a 6-0 Kansas City run. Consecutive cutting layups by senior forward Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) and graduate guard Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) re-established the 11-point advantage with 4:16 remaining in the half. The Eagles led by as many as 15 points late in the first half and took a 36-23 lead into halftime. 
 
The Eagles extended their lead to 18 before back-to-back triples from Kansas City reduced its deficit to nine at the 11:00 mark of the second half. Rivers responded with a trey from the wing, Anderson put back an offensive rebound and Bishop converted a steal into a slam to make it 63-48. 
 
The Thanksgiving-week march to the GCS title marked the second straight season the Eagles won games on three consecutive days. FGCU won its post-Thanksgiving tournament with a 3-0 record in the Hilton Garden FGCU Invitational – defeating Western Michigan (77-67), Southeastern Louisiana (90-71) and Purdue Fort Wayne (85-78). 
 
FGCU advanced to the 2022 championship game with wins over Northern Kentucky, 82-61, on Monday and Drexel, 67-59, on Tuesday. Kansas City picked up victories over Toledo, 83-71, and Indiana State, 63-61.
 
FGCU will enjoy a week away from competition, returning to action at Georgia Southern on Wednesday, Nov. 30 in Statesboro, Ga. The 7:30 p.m. tip-off will be televised on ESPN+. 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.   
 
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.
 
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 CHAMBERS
Pat Chambers was officially introduced as the fifth FGCU men's basketball head coach in March 2022 bringing a wealth of experience in college basketball highlighted by head coaching stints at Penn State and Boston University. Chambers spent nine years leading the Penn State (2011-20) program and two years as head coach at Boston University (2009-11). He has 195 career victories in that span including four 20-plus win seasons. Part of his career as a head coach was highlighted by leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 national ranking in 2019-20 which tied the program's best-ever ranking set in 1996. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent five seasons as part of the Villanova staff helping the Wildcats to a Final Four (2009), two Elite Eight, and three Sweet Sixteen appearances during his tenure.
 
#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 93 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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