Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (7-3) ran into a hot-shooting FAU (8-1) team and a raucous home crowd Wednesday night, falling to the Owls 85-53 at Eleanor R. Baldwin Arena. The Owls shot 62.1 percent in the second half and 53.2 for the game, splitting its points almost evenly over the two halves with 41 in the first and 44 in the second.
 
Senior forward Dakota Rivers (Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) and senior guard Isaiah Thompson (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) each scored nine points for the Eagles in the loss. Graduate guard Caleb Catto (Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) and freshman forward Blaise Vespe (Franklinville, N.J./Neumann-Goretti/IMG Academy) each pulled down four rebounds. 
 
FAU, which has won all seven of its home games and is No. 21 in the latest NCAA Men's Basketball NET rankings, got 21 points off the bench from Alijah Martin and eight rebounds from Vladislav Goldin. The Owls' contributions from the bench, 50 points, made it nearly impossible for the Eagles to launch a comeback. FAU powered its offense with 14 treys, more than any other team against FGCU this year, and the 88 points was another high mark.
 
"There are great lessons to be learned from this, and that is a good team," said FGCU men's basketball coach Pat Chambers. "They made 3s, they exposed us a little bit on the rebounding end of things. We just have to learn from it and get back to work, prepare ourselves for Mercer on Saturday and head into exams. We've got a big few days ahead. Let's see how we all respond." 
 
FAU jumped on top of the Green & Blue early, even after two fouls ushered Nick Boyd to the bench in the game's first 89 seconds. The Owls grabbed a 20-7 lead in the first nine minutes with four 3-pointers. More 3-pointers fell for FAU, but FGCU began finding its range later in the half, as Rivers hit three 3s – the final one with 1:38 to go – to pull FGCU to within 10. Bryan Greenlee hit FAU's eighth tiple of the first half with :30 remaining to put the Owls up 41-28. 
 
FGCU worked it inside early in the second half, as senior guard Dahmir Bishop (Philadelphia, Pa./Imhotep Charter/Xavier/St. Joseph's)and Catto both scored in the paint early to cut the deficit to 11. FAU kept firing from deep, with two 3-pointers fueling an 8-0 run that made it 51-32 with 16:46 left in the game. 
 
The Owls kept frustrating the Eagles on both ends, extending their lead to 20 at the 14:38 mark, and to 30 with midway through the second half. FGCU's troubles came from 16 turnovers, its second-highest total of the year and FAU dominating on the glass, 38-26. 
 
FGCU returns to Alico Arena on Saturday night, taking on Mercer at 7 p.m. 
 
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 197 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 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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