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Live Stats: FGCU vs. St. Bonaventure
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Rosters: FGCU | St. Bonaventure
Schedules: FGCU | St. Bonaventure
Season Stats: FGCU | St. Bonaventure
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (8-3) continues its challenging non-conference slate Friday, traveling to western New York to face St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies are undefeated at home in the Reilly Center this season at 5-0 and possess an overall 11-game home win streak dating back to last season. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with the game available for viewing on ESPN+. 
 
Friday night will be the first meeting vs. St. Bonaventure for both FGCU and Eagle head coach Pat Chambers. FGCU is 4-7 all-time against all current members of the Atlantic 10, and Chambers is 13-11. The Eagles split against A-10 teams last season with a loss at Loyola Chicago and win over Rhode Island in Alico Arena.
 
In its most recent game, St. Bonaventure (6-4) suffered a 72-57 loss Sunday to Iona in the Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational in Brooklyn. Sophomore forward Chad Venning posted the second double-double of his career in front of his hometown New York crowd, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Junior guard Daryl Banks III also added 14 points in the loss.  
 
Banks leads St. Bonaventure with 16.4 points per game, and freshman forward Yann Ferrell pulls down a team-best 7.7 rebounds per outing – tied for fifth among Atlantic 10 players. Sophomore guard Kyrell Luc ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 with 5.0 assists per game. 
 
FGCU is coming off a gritty 67-62 home victory against Mercer Saturday. Junior forward Zach Anderson (Apopka, Fla./Apopka HS) delivered his third double-double of the season against the Bears, with 14 points while tying his career-high with 13 rebounds. The ASUN Player of the Week for Dec. 5-11, Anderson scored 12 points in the second half and eight of the Eagles' 13 points in the final 3:22. 
 
The Eagles have held opponents to 65 points or less in all eight of their victories in 2022-23 and the defensive-minded Bonnies have allowed more than 70 points only three times this season. St. Bonaventure holds its opponents to 65.4 points per game, slightly less than FGCU's opponent scoring average of 66.0 per game. The Bonnies are fourth in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage defense at 24.5.
 
Three Eagles average in double figures. Senior guard Isaiah Thompson (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) leads the Green & Blue with 13.1 points per game, with Anderson at 12.6 points and junior guard Chase Johnston (Boca Raton, Fla./Westminster Academy/Stetson) at 11.4 points per game. Anderson has been the Eagles' rebounding leader in six games this season and averages a team-best 7.8 rebounds per outing. 
 
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 198 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 (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.    
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 94 confererence 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 47 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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