FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University men's basketball season ended Monday night in the ASUN Quarterfinals as sixth-seeded Queens University of Charlotte eliminated the Eagles 71-65 for the third year in a row.
"We have to be able to play smarter down the stretch," head coach Pat Chambers said. "I thought we got some pretty good looks. It just didn't go our way. In a tournament-like atmosphere, I felt like we got a little tighter as the game went on. In the huddles, it was like enjoy it, trust it, believe in and stay together. We did that. We fought back a bunch of different times but never extended the lead and did what we needed to do."
Backed by a raucous home crowd awaiting the first home postseason game in three years, FGCU scored the first four points of the night. Queens took its first lead, 8-6, at the 15:29 mark as the back-and-forth fight began to unfold. Darren Williams connected on wing three to put the Eagles back in front, 9-6. Dallion Johnson started to heat up with a three of his own, pushing the FGCU lead to 14-9.
Johnson later made the Eagle faithful hold their collective breath, hitting the deck and grabbing his leg on a driving layup. Johnson walked off under his own power. With FGCU's leading average scorer out, Queens used a 10-0 run over three minutes to take a 22-16 lead.
Johnson re-entered the game at the 14:55 mark of the first and rekindled the Eagles' offense. Senior Zavian McLean broke the run with a layup, and two made free throws by McLean would knot the game at 22. McLean finished the night with a team-high 18 points. Johnson produced an up-and-under finish as time expired in the first to secure a 36-33 lead heading into the break.
Queens opened the second with a three to tie it 36-36. With 13:02 remaining, Keeshawn Kellman soared onto the scene with a potential dunk of the year candidate, giving FGCU perceived momentum and a regained 48-45 lead. In the final game of his career, Kellman provided a double-double effort worth 16 points and 13 rebounds. The lead would only last for 21 seconds and be FGCU's last.
FGCU fell behind by as many as seven with under 10 to play, down 60-53. The Eagles rallied for a 62-62 tie with 3:49 to play. Queens forced the Green and Blue into four turnovers late, and FGCU would only score three points in the final tense 3:49.
With 17 seconds to go, Johnson missed a great look from three to pull the Eagles to within one. FGCU fouled to put Queens on the line. Queens missed three free throws, one of a FGCU lane violation, but FGCU would turn the ball over trying to push the pace up the floor with a pass sailing out of bounds. Queens sank two free throws to the other end to put the game out of reach, 71-65, and move onto the semifinal round.
Third-seeded FGCU capped the 2024-25 campaign with 18 wins, the most in the Chambers era, and went 13-5 in ASUN play. Thirteen wins in conference marked the most since the 2013 Sweet 16 run of Dunk City.
