FORT MYERS, Fla. – Tavian Dunn-Martin scored a program record 38 points, including 20 in the final 7:33 of the game, as the FGCU men's basketball team pulled out an 89-82 overtime win over Stetson for its fourth consecutive win on Saturday night at Alico Arena. The win improved the Eagles to 17-9 overall and 7-5 in the ASUN, while the Hatters fell to 11-14 overall and 5-7 in league play.
 
"That was a heck of a college basketball game and really had a lot of emotional swings throughout," said head coach Michael Fly. "I'm really proud of our team for staying together and executing the plan late because it's hard to come back from down that many, that late in the game. Tavian was sensational late and showed why he's one of the best players in the league with his record scoring effort as well."
 
Dunn-Martin's performance eclipsed four previous players who were tied for the program record with 37 points. Zach Johnson most recently had the high with 37 against Lipscomb (3/4/18), while Ryan Hopkins did it twice – against Florida College (1/14/03) and Plymouth State (12/31/02). Leighton Bowie also had 37 against Illinois Wesleyan on Dec. 20, 2003. For Dunn-Martin, he finished the night hitting 13-of-25 from the floor with five three pointers and was 7-of-8 at the free throw line. He added seven assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes of play.
 
Saturday marked the sixth 30-point game of the season for the graduate student which made him the only ASUN player in the last decade to do so in a single season. Garrison Mathews of Lipscomb had five such games during the 2018-19 season as the last ASUN player to have five-or-more for a year.
 
In the come-from-behind win, he scored 11 points in the final 2:33 of regulation including the game-tying floater with nine seconds to go to tie the game. The Hatters had one final chance to win the game before the buzzer, but the shot was just off the mark.
 
In addition to Dunn-Martin's play, Kevin Samuel had his 12^th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds while posting seven blocked shots which tied his previous career high which he set against Oklahoma State (12/16/20). The seven blocks were tied as the third-most in program history and just one shy of the single-game FGCU record (last set by Brian Thomas, 3/3/20 vs. Lipscomb).
 
Cyrus Largie finished the night with a double-double as well with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Caleb Catto had 12 points putting him just six shy of 1,000 for his career.
 
As a team, the Eagles also set a new single-season three-point field goal record after hitting 10 against the Hatters. For the year, FGCU has 271 made triples which surpassed the previous record of 269 set during the 2018-19 campaign.
 
The Hatters were led by 24 points from Chase Johnston who hit five three pointers on the night. Stephan Swenson had 14 points, while both Christiaan Jones and Mahamadou Diawara had 10 points.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 15-0 lead over the first 5:16 of play, but the Hatters managed to climb back in the game to tie things up 36-36 at halftime.
 
In the second half, Stetson managed to go on a 17-to-6 run to build out a 73-62 lead with 2:55 remaining. From there, Dunn-Martin and Catto took over to knot the game at 76 and force overtime.
 
Stetson took an 80-78 lead in overtime, but the Eagles closed the game on an 11-to-2 run, with Dunn-Martin scoring nine of those, to pull out the win.
 
Overall, FGCU hit 30-of-69 field goals and shot 10-of-30 from beyond the arc, while the Hatters were 28-of-69 from the floor and 8-of-24 from deep. Both teams frequented the free throw line with Stetson hitting 18-of-28 and FGCU going 19-of-24.
 
The Eagles were able to convert 12 Stetson turnovers into 21 points, while the Hatters managed just six points off 12 FGCU miscues.
 
The Green and Blue will return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 16 when the Eagles host Kennesaw State at Alico Arena to wrap up their three-game home stand.
 
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.

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 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 206-141 record (.585 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--