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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (11-3, 1-0) stormed back from an 18-point second-half deficit Saturday afternoon to defeat Jacksonville (7-5, 0-1) 72-65 in the Eagles' ASUN Conference opener at Alico Arena. Junior forward Zach Anderson (Apopka, Fla./Apopka HS) recorded his fourth double-double of the season and third in December with 18 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. 
 
Saturday's win extended the Green & Blue's winning streak at Alico Arena to 11 games as the Eagles earned their fourth straight victory and ninth in their last 10 games. The comeback victory was also the largest in the coaching career of FGCU head men's basketball coach Pat Chambers. For the Eagles, it was their third-straight win after trailing at the half.
 
"Jacksonville was a tough, physical team that takes you out of a lot of what you want to do," Chambers said. "We had some rust after a long layoff, and to come back and play a team like that probably isn't the best recipe. We really found our legs in the second half and got some stops. The ball started to go in, and we stuck together. Doing it one possession at a time and not taking hero shots, not trying to get it all back at once, was impressive." 
 
Anderson scored all but two of his points in FGCU's frenetic second half – in which it outscored Jacksonville 44-25. He also grabbed four offensive rebounds, dished out four assists, and blocked a game-high three shots – including a jaw-dropping denial of a JU attempt with 2:31 remaining. 
 
"Zach struggled some in the first half, but he finally got some space on the offensive end of things," Chambers said. "He got himself going defensively first, getting a bunch of blocks and making deflections and really engineering our defense. I really give him more credit on the defensive side, but he played phenomenal down the stretch." 
 
Senior guard Isaiah Thompson (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) delivered 14 points and four assists, senior forward Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) added 10 points, and graduate guard Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) added nine points and five assists – giving him 300 for his career. Redshirt sophomore center Andre Weir (Hollywood, Fla./Chaminade-Madonna College Prep/Richmond) contributed nine points off the bench. 
 
Powell and graduate guard Jordan Davis paced Jacksonville with 16 points each. Powell and senior forward Osayi Osifo each grabbed six rebounds.
 
FGCU started hot, as Thompson nailed a 3-pointer at the 12:08 mark for an 18-12 lead with 12:08 remaining in the first half. Jacksonville's offense promptly hit another gear as the Dolphins went on an 8-0 run to go up by two at 20-18. Four treys, three straight from Davis, gave Jacksonville a 32-21 advantage as the Dolphins went 9-11 from the field over a six-minute span.
 
The Eagles would end their four-minute scoring drought when Rivers slammed home an alley-oop. Rivers and Thompson cut the lead to single digits, but the Dolphins would close the first half with four straight points in the final minute to take a 40-28 halftime lead. Jacksonville shot 50 percent from the field despite missing seven of its last 10 attempts.
 
Kevion Nolan's 3-pointer at the 16:36 mark of the second half gave Jacksonville a seemingly insurmountable 18-point lead, at 49-31, but FGCU immediately began whittling away. Anderson hit a trey and a layup on consecutive trips to make it 49-36, a triple from junior guard Chase Johnston (Boca Raton, Fla./Westminster Academy/Stetson) made it 51-41, and Johnston's step-back 3-pointer made it 53-44 with 13:20 remaining. 
 
The Green & Blue wasn't done. Six different Eagles scored in a 21-4 run as Weir began with a jumper, Thompson and Johnston hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Catto had a layup and trey. Anderson followed a Rivers' free throw and went off with a jumper, dunk, and a corner 3-pointer to erase the deficit and give FGCU a 57-55 lead with 8:11 remaining. 
 
Although it remained a one-possession game into the final minute, FGCU's suffocating defense denied Jacksonville in the final 4:38. Neither team had a field goal in the final 3:51, but the Eagles scored the game's final eight points at the free-throw line in the last 60 seconds. The Eagles shot 51.9 percent in the second half and held the Dolphins to just 36 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.
 
FGCU returns to action on the road Monday night, taking on Central Arkansas at 8:30 p.m. in Conway, Ark. Jacksonville hosts Jacksonville State on Monday.
 
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 201 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 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 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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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