FORT MYERS, Fla. -
Zavian McLean scored a season-high 19 points and was one of four players in double-figures for the Eagles, but Florida Gulf Coast University dropped a 76-73 decision to Furman University Wednesday night at Alico Arena in front of 1,908 fans.
The Eagles (3-6) led for over 30 minutes of the contest, holding a 44-33 lead at the break as McLean grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and drained a 26-footer as the buzzer sounded to end the period. After a McLean steal ended Furman's first possession of the second half, his driving lay-up gave the Eagles their largest lead of the night at 13 points.
A
Rory Stewart 3-pointer with just under 10 minutes to go in regulation gave the Eagles the lead again by a baker's dozen, 65-52. As the clock ticked towards 5:15 to go, the Eagles still the lead by eight, but a 30-second stretch that saw Furman force a pair of turnovers in the backcourt resulted in a 7-0 run in a flash to cut FGCU's advantage to one, 67-66.
Furman (8-1) gained the lead at the charity stripe, but the Eagles answered back to make it 69-68. Furman would score the next four to get the lead by three, 72-69, and the Eagles played off the back foot the rest of the way. The Eagles would go 2-of-5 from the free-throw line down the stretch, with the Paladins keeping FGCU at arm's length the rest of the way. FGCU would get one final shot to tie just before the horn, but the shot came up short and the guests escaped with the win.
McLean scored 11 of his game-high 19 in the second half.
Jevin Muniz went 7-of-13 from the field en route to a 16-point night.
Dallion Johnson added 11, with
Rahmir Barno scoring 10 points for his second game in a row with double-digit scoring. In all, eight different Eagles found the scoresheet, with
Jack Reddick scoring his first collegiate points on a first-half 3-pointer.
The Eagles were out-rebounded by Furman 34-26, but
Tristen Guillouette had a game-high nine as eight came in the first half. FGCU also collected 10 steals off of Furman's 11 turnovers as McLean led the thievery with four.
Furman got 12 points from PJay Smith in the second half as he led the Paladins in scoring with 18.
The Eagles will be back in action at LSU this Sunday in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. EST on SEC Network+.
