FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball (11-15, 5-8 ASUN) protected its home court on Wednesday night, defeating North Florida (6-20, 4-9) 90-81 at Alico Arena.
The Eagles dominated inside the paint, scoring 42 points to the Ospreys' 24, including 30 points off layups and dunks. The 42 paint points are the most the Eagles have scored since December 3 at FIU. FGCU also scored 23 fast break points, its third best mark of the season. The Eagles' defense held UNF's Kent Jackson, who entered the game third nationally in 3-point makes, to just 4-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Shot selection was key, as FGCU took 20 less 3-pointers than North Florida, but hit 37.5% of them. The Eagles outshot the Ospreys 54.8% to 41.3% from the field in the win.
"It gives us definite confidence moving forward," head coach
Pat Chambers said. "We needed to get this one. And we did. We're treating every game like '1-0'. We'll see if we can get a little bit better tomorrow in film and on the court and Friday, same thing."
Jordan Ellerbee led FGCU with 22 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field. The freshman guard didn't miss a 2-point shot.
Isaiah Malone added his second career 20-point game on 8-for-10 shooting from the field. JR Konieczny rounded out the Eagles' offensive punch with a 19 point, seven rebound, five assist outing.
Malone recorded one block to move into a tie with Demetris Morant for the fourth most blocks in a season in FGCU history with 48. He needs four more blocks to take sole possession of second on that list.
Trailing by five early, the Eagles went on a 9-0 run to take momentum behind baskets from Malone, Ellerbee and Konieczny. The early shift helped FGCU eventually take the lead for good after a Duax jumper with 12:22 remaining in the first half.
FGCU maintained the lead by defending from the perimeter. The Ospreys went nearly 10 minutes without a 3-point make in the first half (from 14:24 to 4:37), allowing the Eagles to stretch the lead to the halftime margin of 42-33.
In the second half, FGCU had a response every time North Florida cut into the deficit. The Eagles' lead was cut to six on four occasions; Ellerbee answered three of those with an immediate make.
FGCU wasn't perfect at the free throw line down the stretch, but got four consecutive makes from
Darren Williams – who scored all nine of his points in the second half – in the final minute to seal the 90-81 victory.
"It feels good," Konieczny said. "Love the home atmosphere, love the crowd … we still have things to work on and clean up, but I love the effort we played with tonight."
Jackson led all scorers with 24 points. Kamrin Oriol added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Ospreys.
FGCU improved to 25-17 in the all-time series and is 6-1 against North Florida in the
Pat Chambers era. Wednesday's win was the Eagles' fourth consecutive victory over the Ospreys.
Next, FGCU hosts Stetson (9-17, 5-8) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 14.
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.
Postgame Notes
– FGCU improved to 25-17 in the all-time series with the Ospreys
– Chambers improved to 6-1 against UNF, and has won four consecutive games in the series
–
Isaiah Malone had his second career 20-point game on 8-for-10 shooting from the field.
– Malone moved into a tie with Demetris Morant for No. 4 on the FGCU single-season block leaderboard with 48 in 2025-26.
–
Jordan Ellerbee had his fourth 20-point game and 19th double-digit game of the season
– Ellerbee has scored in double-digits in eight straight games and in all but three ASUN games
– Ellerbee has hit multiple 3-pointers in 13 games this season
– JR Konieczny had his 15th double-digit game of the season
– FGCU scored 42 points in the paint, the fourth best mark of 2025-26
– The Eagles also scored 23 fast break points, the third best total of 2025-26
– FGCU held Kent Jackson to just 4-for-15 (26.7%) shooting from 3-point range (Jackson entered No. 3 nationally in 3-point makes)
