Dallion Johnson scored a career-high 26 points and
Michael Duax had his first double-double in an Eagles uniform as Florida Gulf Coast University defeated Bellarmine University 77-61 Thursday night in Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball action, giving the Green and Blue five wins in a row.
The win, coupled with other results from around the league, moves FGCU into a two-way tie for first place with Jacksonville. The Dolphins defeated West Georgia to remain in the tie while Lipscomb and Queens University of Charlotte both took conference losses.
"I thought we defended well," said FGCU head coach
Pat Chambers. "We did a pretty good job of rebounding. Guys made some shots tonight. I give credit to
Keeshawn Kellman. He gets so much attention and gets two or three guys on him. But he was able to get out of the traps and Dallion was able to get some open looks."
FGCU (11-9, 6-1 ASUN) consistently made the extra pass, racking up 20 assists as a squad. The Green and Blue would take advantage of finding the open man on the perimeter to the tune of 13 made 3-pointers.
The Eagles led for much of the first five minutes of the contest, but were down 11-10 with 14:02 left in the half. That's when the Eagles ran off 16 points in a row. Five different Eagles scored during the stretch that spanned exactly five minutes.
Zavian McLean would close out the run as he beat the Bellarmine defense down the court to receive an outlet pass from
Rahmir Barno for an easy lay-up. The half would end with Johnson scoring FGCU's last 11 points, giving the Eagles a 41-30 advantage at the break.
In the second half, Bellarmine (3-17, 0-7 ASUN) threatened to get back in the contest as a 3-pointer cut the FGCU lead to eight, 45-37. With the crowd making noise to rally the Knights, Johnson silenced the throng by draining another 3-pointer to push the lead back to 11. The senior would pour in another shot from beyond-the-arc to make it a 14-point advantage and the Eagles would never be challenged again.
Duax played his best all-around game since joining FGCU. The junior transfer scored a dozen points and added 10 rebounds for the double-double. He would also dish out a career-high six assists, with five coming in the second half.
Zavian McLean scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half of the contest. The graduate student went 6-of-8 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers to reach 10 or more points for the 12th time this season. Kellman led all players with 11 rebounds. eight of which came in the first half.
FGCU shot 30-of-56 (53.6) from the field, marking the eighth time this season that the squad has hit on half of its shots or better. With a season-high in 3-point makes in the victory, the Eagles now have six games this season with 10 or more makes from long range.
The Eagles have now won five straight ASUN games for the first time since Feb. 3-16, 2022. The streak is also the longest for FGCU since accomplishing the feat twice during the 2022-23 season.
FGCU will look to win a sixth game in a row this Saturday when it travels to face Eastern Kentucky. Tipoff in Richmond, Kentucky is set for 4 p.m.
