FORT MYERS, Fla. - Reigning Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball Player of the Week
Zach Anderson scored a game-high 20 points as Florida Gulf Coast University started conference play for the season with an 80-70 victory over Jacksonville University at Alico Arena, running FGCU's winning streak to four games.
Anderson drained five shots from beyond-the-arc en route to his 20 points on the night. He was joined in double-figures by a returning
Isaiah Thompson, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half.
Keeshawn Kellman completed a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, including eight on the offensive glass.
Dallion Johnson was the fourth Eagle in double-figures with 12 points thanks to a pair of triples and a 6-of-6 outing at the charity stripe.
"I thought we did a really good job, but we played pretty well for 30 minutes," FGCU head coach
Pat Chambers said. "The first half was really good, then the next eight to 10 was solid. We got 15 offensive rebounds to their 10, which is good for us because they're a really good rebounding team. We did a good job, but we could do better. So we'll watch the film, and we'll get better and move on pretty quickly to UNF."
The Eagles (7-9, 1-0 ASUN) jumped on top early and didn't let their foot off the gas for much of the game. After a
Franco Miller, Jr., basket just over 6:30 into the game gave the Eagles a 7-6 lead, the home team would never trail again. After Anderson connected on a 3-pointer, Thompson scored FGCU's next eight points to push the lead up to nine, 18-9. FGCU would get its first double-digit lead of the contest a short time later when Anderson connected on another 3-pointer to make it 23-11. Leading 28-19, the Eagles scored nine of the last 12 points of the half to hold a 37-22 lead at intermission.
The second half would be more of the same for the first 14 minutes, with Miller's driving layup giving the Eagles their largest lead of the game, 62-40, with 6:05 to go. Jacksonville (9-6, 0-1 ASUN) would force FGCU to turn the ball over late, and the Dolphins would take advantage with a run to trim the lead down to eight, 74-66. Miller and Johnson would combine to make FGCU's final six free-throws of the night as the Eagles sailed away with the win.
All nine players who saw the court for FGCU on the night came away with points. The Eagles also out-rebounded JU as a unit, 39-24. No one had more than five rebounds for the Dolphins in the contest.
Having won their ASUN opener for the third season in a row, the Eagles will now shift their attention to a visit from the University of North Florida. Tip time in Alico Arena is set for 7 p.m. this Saturday.
