Zavian McLean scored a season-high 20 points as Florida Gulf Coast University's men's basketball team fell to UNC Wilmington 79-66 Wednesday night in Wilmington, North Carolina.
McLean and teammate
Keeshawn Kellman each went 8-of-11 from the field, with McLean mixing in a 3-pointer and three free-throws to get to 20. Kellman finished just one rebound shy of a double-double after adding 16 points of his own.
UNCW (8-3) led for nearly the entire contest. The Eagles tied the game at 10-all and 12-all, but after the second tie, the Seahawks would grab the lead for good. The home side would hold a 37-27 lead after the opening 20 minutes.
FGCU (3-8) would fight to keep it close, but could never get the bucket to turn up the pressure on the Seahawks. With the lead at 19, 71-52, the Eagles would chip away. A 9-1 run would cut the lead to 11, 72-61 as McLean drove to the hole for a layup to end the rally. Twice, FGCU would have shots to cut the lead to single-digits, but each time, the iron would not grant the Eagles the needed basket. UNCW would keep FGCU at arm's length the rest of the way to hold on for the win by 13.
The Eagles were 25-of-53 as a team from the field and went 5-of-19 from 3-point territory. UNCW would make three more shots from the field (28-of-57) and would also drain 10 shots from beyond-the-arc.
After the double-figure outings for McLean and Kellman, FGCU's next-best scorers were
Rory Stewart and
Jevin Muniz who each had nine. Stewart's nine came from three made triples, the most on the team.
Donovan Newby's 21 points led UNCW, one of three players to score 10 or more for the home side.
The Eagles will be back in action Sunday afternoon in Alico Arena as the Eagles face Florida Tech in the final home event of 2024 for FGCU. Opening tip is set for 1 p.m., with tickets available at
FGCUTickets.com.
