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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team (16-12 overall, 6-9 ASUN Conference) begins a regular season-ending, three-game homestand Saturday night when the Stetson Hatters (15-11, 10-5) visit Alico Arena. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m., and the game will be available to view on ESPN+.
Saturday's game is Senior Night in The Nest, where FGCU celebrates its four senior players as well as its senior managers. It is also Military Appreciation Night.
FGCU currently sits tied for ninth with Queens (N.C.) and Jacksonville in the conference standings, with the top 10 teams advancing to the ASUN Tournament beginning Feb. 27. Stetson is fourth in the ASUN standings, two games behind league-leading Kennesaw State.
The Green & Blue dropped a 75-72 decision to Stetson on Wednesday night, snapping a two-game winning streak against the in-state rival. Stetson got 23 points and six rebounds from junior guard Stephan Swenson. Sophomore guard Jalen Blackmon dropped 15 points, and junior forward Josh Smith added 10 points.
Blackmon leads the Hatters at 14.3 points per game. Smith pulls down a team-best 6.1 rebounds per outing. Smith's 57.8 percent field goal percentage ranks fourth in the conference, and sophomore guard Luke Brown is second in the ASUN with a 45.9 percent 3-point shooting percentage. The Hatters rank fifth in the conference in offense at 75.9 points per game, and are 10
th defensively by allowing 72.5 points per outing.
Junior guard
Isaiah Thompson (
Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) scored 20 points in Thursday's setback – his sixth 20-point effort in FGCU's last seven games. Thompson added a team-high seven assists and nicked two steals.
Junior guard
Chase Johnston (
Boca Raton, Fla./Westminster Academy/Stetson) added 17 points, including a team-high three 3-pointers, and four rebounds in his fifth start of the season. Junior forward
Dakota Rivers (
Windermere, Fla./Windermere HS) went for a career-high 15 points along with three rebounds.
Thompson leads the Eagles at 14.8 points per game, and has made a team-high 74 3-pointers. He is tied with graduate guard
Caleb Catto (
Cape Coral, Fla./Southwest Florida Christian Academy) for the team lead with 86 assists. Sophomore forward
Zach Anderson (
Apopka, Fla./Apopka HS) scores 12.2 points and pulls down a team-best 7.1 rebounds per game – good for second in the ASUN. Johnston, a transfer from Stetson, delivers 12.0 points per game and has made 63 3-pointers this season.
Catto is just three minutes away from eclipsing former FGCU great (and current Stetson assistant coach) Brett Comer for the all-time lead in minutes played. Comer's record is 4,050 minutes, and Catto – already the FGCU leader in games played at 143 – is at 4,048 minutes.
After the Stetson series concludes, Lipscomb visits Alico Arena at 7 p.m. on Feb. 22, which is American Heart Assocation and FGCU Faculty & Staff Appreciation Night. The regular-season finale sees Austin Peay come to town at 7 p.m. Feb. 24 for Fan Appreciation Night.
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 206 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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