FORT MYERS, Fla. – A late Eagles scoring drought from the field was the difference at Alico Arena on Thursday, as Austin Peay (9-5, 3-0 ASUN) knocked off Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball (7-9, 1-2 ASUN) 82-71.
FGCU didn't make a shot from the field after a JR Konieczny jumper with 8:19 to play that cut the Govs lead to 66-64 until an
Isaiah Malone dunk with 12.7 seconds left. Austin Peay hit two of its 14 3-pointers on the night after Konieczny's make to extend its lead back to eight.
The Eagles went 1-for-10 from the field and 5-for-10 from the free throw line in the last eight minutes. FGCU's defense held Austin Peay to just 1-for-5 shooting from the field while trailing in the last seven minutes, but the Governors knocked down all eight of their free throws in the same duration to maintain the lead.
Konieczny led FGCU with 20 points to set a personal single-season best mark of 247 points, surpassing his sophomore year at Notre Dame when he had 245 points. His 15.5 points per game is double the 7.7 he averaged for the Irish in 2023-24. He also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds and tallied 37 minutes despite having to exit briefly in the second half due to a cut on his arm that also necessitated his jersey to switch to 14.
Jordan Ellerbee scored 16 and dished out four assists, and
Michael Duax added 12 points for the Eagles.
FGCU finished even in the rebound battle for the first time in a loss in 2025-26, in part due to a strong first ten minutes of the second half, when it whittled down a nine point halftime deficit to take a lead on three separate occasions in the period, the last of which followed a Konieczny 3-pointer with 10:15 to play. Austin Peay won the offensive rebound battle, though, and scored 19 second chance points to the Eagles' eight.
The Governors finished 14-for-31 from behind the 3-point line, good for the third most triples allowed by the Eagles this season and the fourth most efficient game from behind the arc for a FGCU opponent. All five Austin Peay players that took a 3-pointer made at least two.
Austin Peay earned its first win at Alico Arena in the third matchup between the Govs and the Eagles in Fort Myers. Zyree Collins led the way for Austin Peay, scoring 25 on 7-for-14 shooting from the field. Tate McCubbin added 15 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Govs.
Next, FGCU stays home against Lipscomb (9-7, 2-1 ASUN) at 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 10 at Alico Arena. The Bisons fell 91-83 to Stetson in DeLand 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.
