The Florida Gulf Coast University men's basketball team held off a late rally by Army to knock off the Black Knights, 68-65, Monday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the College Basketball Invitational in Daytona Beach, Fla.
With the win, FGCU (19-14) advances to Tuesday night's semifinals, where the Eagles will face Cleveland State (21-12). Tuesday's semifinal is scheduled to tip off at 9 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU.
Monday's win also continues a season for FGCU that has seen the Eagles qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2021-22 and for the first time under current head coach
Pat Chambers. The 19 wins is the most for FGCU since 2021-22 and the 13 ASUN wins the Eagles piled up in the regular season is the most conference wins since 2012-13, when FGCU advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Army – which advanced to Monday's quarterfinal with a come-from-behind win over Elon on Sunday – scored the game's opening basket, but FGCU quickly tied the game and took the lead, building a 17-12 advantage with 11:47 to go in the first half. However, the Black Knights scored five straight points to tie the game at 17 following a 3-pointer by Ryan Curry with 10:48 left before halftime.
Later in the half, the Eagles – who now lead the all-time series with Army, 2-1 – made an 8-0 run to go from being down 22-19 to leading 27-22 with 6:15 remaining and they closed the half with another 7-3 burst to take a 38-31 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Michael Duax led FGCU with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists and
Keeshawn Kellman added eight points and four rebounds for FGCU, which outrebounded Army 23-16 in the first half and limited the Black Knights to 11-for-31 shooting (35.5 percent) – including 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) on 3-pointers – in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, FGCU pushed its lead out to 52-42 following a
Rahmir Barno 3-pointer with 12:05 to go before Army (17-16) went on a 7-0 run to get to within 52-49 on a jumper by Jalen Rucker with 9:39 remaining.
FGCU retook control and extended its lead back out to eight points, at 59-51, before Army made its last run to try and win the game. Rucker drained a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left to get the Black Knights to within 67-65 and following a FGCU miss, Army was fouled and stepped to the free-throw line with 7 seconds to go with a chance to tie things up.
However, both free throws were off the mark and Jeven Muniz grabbed the rebound on the second miss before he was fouled. He walked to the other end of the court and sank one of two free throws to make it 68-65 FGCU.
Army snagged the rebound on the missed second free throw, but the Black Knights' subsequent 3-point shot to tie the game was off the mark, sending FGCU into the semifinals.
Duax had 16 points, four rebounds and four assists, and
Dallion Johnson netted 16 points to lead the FGCU offense. Kellman chipped in 10 points and six rebounds, Barno pitched in nine points and three rebounds,
Tristen Guillouette came off the bench with nine points and six rebounds and Muniz filled the stat sheet for the Eagles with eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.
