FLORENCE, Ala. – Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball righted the ship with the program's first-ever win at CB&S Bank Arena, 72-55, in Florence on Saturday.
FGCU was previously 0-4 in Florence despite a 3-2 advantage in the series in the Chambers era entering the contest. The Eagles improved to 7-8 all-time against North Alabama with the win.
Rahmir Barno led FGCU with 14 points and five assists.
Jordan Ellerbee scored 13 points and was a team-best plus-22 in his 22:57 on the floor.
Isaiah Malone added 11 points and eight rebounds, and JR Konieczny scored ten.
Konieczny opened the game with a thunderous dunk; the Eagles would lead wire-to-wire.
Matt McCarthy and
Gabe Tanner knocked down back-to-back first half 3-pointers to build the FGCU lead to ten points in the first ten minutes, as the Lions only mustered four points in that same timeframe.
The Eagles' defense and rebounding put on a first half clinic, allowing just 25.9% shooting from the field and zero offensive rebounds to North Alabama. Balanced scoring followed on the other end of the floor, with nine different Eagles scoring en route to a 33-23 halftime lead.
FGCU's offense got rolling in the second half. Malone opened the half with a dunk to set the tone; he,
Rory Stewart, and Konieczny also all connected from distance. The Eagles finished shooting 36% from behind the arc.
The Lions cut the lead to five points at the free throw line with eight minutes to play before the FGCU defense clamped down once again. North Alabama did not make a field goal for a nine minute stretch starting just before it cut the lead to five, and saw Ellerbee score eight points of a 16-2 and an extended 19-4 FGCU run to put the game away, including a triple with 1:53 to go that gave the Eagles a 68-53 lead.
After not winning the rebound battle on Thursday at Central Arkansas, FGCU dominated on the glass on Saturday, winning the rebound battle 43-29. The Eagles have now won the rebound battle in all seven of their wins this season.
North Alabama was without the ASUN's leading rebounder, Corneilous Williams (9.8 rebounds per game) due to illness, per the ESPN+ broadcast. Canin Jefferson led the Lions with 14 points in the loss.
Next, the Eagles return to Alico Arena for a four-game homestand beginning against Austin Peay at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 8.
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.
