CONWAY, Ark. – Behind a double-double from Tavian Dunn-Martin and a strong physical presence by Kevin Samuel, the FGCU men's basketball team pulled out a 95-93 overtime road win at Central Arkansas on Thursday night at the Farris Center. The win improves the Eagles to 14-9 overall and 4-5 in the ASUN, while the Bears fall to 6-15 overall and 3-5 in league action.
 
"We're really proud of the effort and determination tonight," said head coach Michael Fly. "Road wins are always hard to come by, so we'll enjoy this for a bit before turning our attention to Lipscomb on Saturday. We were able to limit turnovers while taking advantage of UCA's and that was a big difference maker for us."
 
Dunn-Martin tied his season-high with 34 points on 11-of-25 shooting from the field and a 9-of-10 effort at the free throw line. He also had his fourth double-double of the year with 10 assists. The 30-point effort was his ASUN-best fifth of the season. According to ESPN, he became the third Division I player over the last 10 seasons with multiple 30-point, 10-assist games in a single season alongside Trae Young and Ja Morant.
 
Samuel had 19 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and two steals on the night. He shot 9-of-12 from the floor, while his five blocks, which rank ninth all-time in FGCU career history, give him 66 for the season – just one away for matching Nate Hicks who had 67 from 2013-15.
 
Cyrus Largie and Zach Anderson each scored in double figures with 12 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
The Eagles hit 10 three pointers and were 13-of-18 at the free throw line, while shooting 48.0 percent overall from the floor (36-of-75).
 
Eddy Kayouloud matched Dunn-Martin's game-high 34 points going 15-of-22 from the floor while hauling down a game-high 17 rebounds. Collin Cooper scored 18 points, while Masai Olowokere had 14 points. Jared Chatham rounded out the top scorers with 10 points. Camren Hunter also reached double figures in rebounds with 10 for the night.
 
FGCU held a 44-42 lead at the intermission after leading by as many as eight, 38-30, with 5:07 to go in the first half. The nip-and-tuck affair featured 11 lead changes and 12 ties throughout the contest.
 
The Eagles closed regulation with an 8-to-1 run to force the extra session.
 
In the overtime, back-to-back scores by Samuel and Largie put the Eagles head 91-89 with 3:52 to go, but UCA retook a three-point lead on a free throw and lay-up by Chatham over the next minute of play. Free throws by Dunn-Martin, Caleb Catto and Carlos Rosario helped the Eagles keep the lead in the final moments of the game and the FGCU defense held the Bears to just one free throw in the final 2:46 of play.
 
UCA had one final chance to tie the game with 0.3 seconds remaining on a sideline inbounds play where the lob was on the mark, but the Bears missed the tap in.
 
The Eagles will continue their cross-divisional road swing this week with a Saturday trip to Lipscomb. Tip-off is set for 5 PM in Nashville and the game will be streamed live 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.

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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 203-141 record (.586 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).
 
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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.
 
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