FORT MYERS, Fla. – Despite an early second half rally, Queens (10-8, 5-0 ASUN) held off Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball (7-11, 1-4 ASUN) 85-74 at Alico Arena on Thursday night.
Isaiah Malone led FGCU with 17 points and eight rebounds on a perfect 11-for-11 night at the free throw line.
Rahmir Barno added 15 points and
Darren Williams scored ten. As a team, the Eagles went 22-for-22 from the free throw line on the night.
That mark stands as the best free throw shooting performance in program history. FGCU had four previous occurrences of a perfect free throw shooting night as a team leading into the night, most recently a 9-for-9 game against Bellarmine on February 10, 2024; none of those games had more than ten made free throws. Barno made all five of his shots at the free throw line, Williams knocked down both of his and
Tristen Guillouette went 4-for-4.
The Royals blitzed to an early 16-4 lead in the first eight minutes, and grew their lead to 26-10 with 9:19 to play. The Eagles slowly started chipping away, using an and-one layup from Barno and four straight points from Guillouette to trim the lead to single digits before an emphatic
Jordan Ellerbee dunk.
Queens responded by knocking down a pair of triples to stretch the lead back to 13, but
Isaiah Malone hit six free throws and Barno hit a layup to cut the deficit to 41-33 going into the locker room.
Perhaps the best basketball of FGCU's night was played exiting the locker room, as the Eagles matched Queens' hot start to the first half with one of their own in the second. Malone scored the first five of the half, including a high-arcing and-one layup. JR Konieczny buried a 3-pointer to give FGCU its first lead of the game.
The game seesawed back and forth for the next 12 minutes. Konieczny hit two more shots from the field before exiting with 11:40 to play. Williams knocked down a pair of 3-pointers, and Malone gave the Eagles their last lead of the night, 59-58, at the free throw line with 9:09 to play.
Rory Stewart buried a triple to tie the game at 62-62 with 6:55 to play after the two squads traded misses and turnovers, but Queens would go on a 10-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to take control of the contest.
FGCU drew back within six on four separate occasions. Barno was responsible for three of those moments, but Cars Schwieger hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night with 1:06 to play to seal the win for the Royals.
Schweiger scored 15 for Queens and grabbed six rebounds. Jordan Watford led the Royals with 19 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 shooting at the free throw line.
Next, FGCU wraps up its homestand at 2 p.m. on Saturday against West Georgia (9-8, 3-2 ASUN). The Wolves lost 95-86 to Stetson on Thursday night.
Tickets are on sale now for ASUN action at
https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/FGCU.
For more information on FGCU men's basketball, follow @FGCU_MBB on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit
fgcuathletics.com.
