Florida Gulf Coast University allowed its fewest points in a game since Feb. 22, 2020 as the Eagles defeated Georgia Southern University, 53-42, Tuesday night in Savannah, Georgia as part of the Coastal Empire Eagle Classic.
"Defensively, without question, we played our best 40 minutes," said FGCU head coach
Pat Chambers. "I'm really proud of the way the guys responded after a tough loss against Mercer."
FGCU (4-9) got a team-leading 14 points from
Dallion Johnson, with
Keeshawn Kellman improving to a 70.4 percent clip from the field this season with a 5-for-5 shooting effort and 11 points.
Cyrus Largie added seven points and a season-high nine rebounds, with
Franco Miller, Jr., coming off the bench to score eight.
Looking for its first win of the season, Georgia Southern (0-12) came out hot, building a 17-7 lead over the game's first eight minutes. FGCU would respond as the variety of Eagles from Fort Myers clamped down on defense and used 12-2 run over the next 7:23 to take a 19-17 lead. GS would turn the momentum back its way and would cling to a one-point lead at halftime, 24-23.
"We put Cyrus in the starting lineup and he was just fantastic," Coach Chambers said. "Franco was accepting of his role off the bench. I think those guys, along with Blaise [Vespe] and Josiah [Shackleford] really launched us in the late part of the first half and got us back into the game."
Georgia Southern scored the first two points of the second half, but wouldn't score many more the rest of the way. A Johnson 3-pointer tied the score up and sent FGCU on a 14-2 run over the next 8:38 of the contest. By the time Johnson knocked down his third triple of the run, FGCU held a 40-28 lead.
The lead would prove to be more than enough for the Green & Blue. Georgia Southern would get no closer than seven the rest of the way as FGCU would cruise to an 11-point win.
"The ball wasn't always going in, but we didn't let it deter us from getting rebounds and getting stops on defense," Coach Chambers added. "Sometimes you've got to win ugly. We kept {Georgia Southern] off-balance with our different looks, and the second half was about as good as it could be defensively."
FGCU out-rebounded GS 43-30, with Largie's nine leading all players. FGCU also had a 28-16 edge paint points. FGCU took advantage of Georgia Southern's 12 turnovers to the tune of 14 points. The 42 points allowed were the fewest given up by FGCU since a 55-39 win at NJIT.
Georgia Southern opted for 27 shots from beyond-the-arc and would only make six to shoot 22.2 percent from distance. GS would also go just 4-of-11 from the charity stripe. Eren Banks scored 12 points in the first half, but managed just four in the second half to finish with 16.
The Eagles will return back to Alico Arena to begin a four-game homestand this Friday as Florida Memorial University visits. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
