SCF Sports: FGCU Basketball vs Stetson Recap

FGCU Basketball vs Stetson Recap

The beginning of conference went underway as FGCU's men's and women's basketball teams faced Stetson to open conference. Both of the Eagles' teams won their respected games. The women (15-3, 1-0 A-SUN) played first at 4 pm, winning 80-40 against the Lady Hatters (9-8, 0-1 A-SUN), while the men (10-8, 1-0 A-SUN) finally woke up from non-conference play and won against Stetson's men's team (8-9, 0-1 A-SUN) by a score of 90-52. With the wins, the men are now 17-7 against the Hatters while the women are now 22-4.

"We definitely wanted to contain their best players, and it takes a team effort," FGCU women's head coach Karl Smesko said. "(Erica) did a great job on Chambers. She's a great scorer. Rose did a tremendous job on McKenna, and then Ty and (Taylor) Gradinjan combined to do a really good job on Kennedi."

"Our defensive stops allowed us to get out and run and get into a rhythm offensively," said FGCU men's head coach Joe Dooley. "We shared the ball; the ball moved really well. The offense obviously looks a lot better when you shoot it well, and we shot it extremely well. A lot of that comes from taking open shots and getting guys open looks. And we did a great job of doing that tonight."

For the Eagles, it was sophomore Tytionia Adderly that stole the show. Adderly finished with a double-double of a season-high 21 points (6-for-11 FG, 2-for-4 3FG, 7-for-10 FT) and 13 rebounds (six offensive, seven defensive). Adderly also added one assist. This was Adderly's sixth career double-double, and with the six offensive rebounds, Adderly now has 167 and is 17 away from passing Courtney Chihil (183) for seventh all-time in career offensive rebounds.

"(Tonight) was very important, especially against Stetson," Adderly said. "They're our archrival and the win was just great for all of us. It's a boost to keep going and keep winning the rest of conference play."

Senior Rose Julien had 12 points (4-for-8 FG, 2-for-4 3FG, 2-for-2 FT), four rebounds and one steal.

Sophomore Nasrin Ulel had eight points, five rebounds and two steals.

Senior Erica Nelson had six points, four rebounds and five assists.

Redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan did not score any points, but did contribute with two rebounds and two assists. Grandijan competed in her 130th career game which ties Whitney Knight (2011-16) for sixth most in program history. She is two away from tying Sarah Hansen (2009-14) and DyTiesha Dunson (2012-16) for fourth all-time. Grandijan is also three starts away from tying Courtney Chihil (111) for third most starts in program history, 19 minutes away from surpassing pass Knight (3,277) for seventh most in program history and four more 3-point field goal attempts to become just the third player in program history to reach 700 in a career.

Off the bench, all seven players played and six contributed to the mix.

Redshirt freshman Chandler Ryan had 11 points.

Redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka had 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Redshirt senior Jessica Cattani had seven points, one rebound, one assist and one steal.

Redshirt senior China Dow had five points, four rebounds, four assists and one block.

Freshman Alyssa Blair, Sheahen Dowling and Liberty Brown also were in the game. Blair added one steal while Dowling added one assist.

"We didn't do anything right offensively. Couldn't make a free throw, couldn't make a lay-up," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. "Not taking away anything from FGCU, they are very, very good, but they didn't do anything that we didn't expect. We just couldn't do anything right. We couldn't generate any offense at all. Nothing."

For the Lady Hatters, senior Brittany Chambers had 11 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Freshman Shania Meertens had seven points and one rebound before fouling out.

Junior McKenna Beach had five points, five rebounds and one steal.

Sophomore Kennedi Colclough had two points, rebounds and one assist.

Freshman Kendall Lentz didn't score any points, but contributed with two rebounds before also fouling out.

Off the bench, Sophomore Jordan Tully led the way. Tully had 11 points, three rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal, freshman Megan Vincent had three points and freshman Michelle Pruitt had one point and one rebound.

With the win, the Lady Eagles are now 22-4 against Stetson.

"We have to get a lot better," Bria said. "I think we are playing the best team in our league (in FGCU). I am encouraged by the fact that we know what we have to do, but we have to get a lot better."

Fast forward to the men's game and it was just as good as the women. Once again, the duo of redshirt senior Brandon Goodwin and redshirt junior Zach Johnson led the symphony for the Eagles. Goodwin had 18 points (6-for-8 FG, 1-for-2 3FG, 5-for-6 FT), seven rebounds, four assists and four steals, while Johnson had 19 points (7-for-11 FG, 5-for-7 3FG), four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Redshirt junior Dinero Mercurius had 13 points (4-for-6 FG, 3-for-5 3FG, 2-for-3 FT).

Senior Christian Terrell had nine points, five rebounds and six assists.

Redshirt junior Ricky Doyle had four points, three rebounds and one block.

Off the bench, sophomore Christian Carlyle led the way. Carlyle had 10 points (3-for-4 FG, 2-for-2 3FG, 2-for-2 FT), three rebounds and three assists.

Redshirt junior Michael Gilmore had seven points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Freshman Brian Thomas made his home debut after missing several games due to a hand injury. Thomas finished with four points, eight rebounds, one block and one steal.

Sophomore Raysean Scott Jr. had four points, five rebounds, one assist and one block.

Redshirt sophomore Brady Ernst had two points and one rebound.

Redshirt senior Josh Ko added one rebound.

Junior Dolan Mahoney and freshmen Darnell Rogers and Ryan McAdoo also played in the game.

Redshirt senior Antravious Simmons did not play due to a foot injury

For the Hatters, senior Divine Myles led the way with 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and two steals.

Senior Luke Doyle had 11 points and two rebounds.

Redshirt senior B.J. Glasford had eight points, one rebound and three steals.

Senior Larry Dennis had one point and two rebounds.

Senior Angel Rivera contributed with one rebound and two steals.

Off the bench, freshman Abayomi Iloya had 11 points and five rebounds, freshman Christiaan Jones had three point and one assist, freshman Keith Matthews had three points and one rebound, freshman Kenny Aninye contributed with one steal, junior Leo Goodman contributed with one rebound and freshman Raine Mckeython contributed with one rebound. Freshman Adam Webb also played in the game.

While the men were playing, I seriously got in Stetson's heads big time. I kept bringing up how they almost lost to Florida National University (FNU). For those that don't know, FNU is a member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). Basically, it's an athletic organization of community colleges and small universities that no one has ever heard of or thought were in existence. On New Years Day, FNU and Stetson played in a non-conference exhibition/season game. The Hatters barely won by a score of 94-88. The sad thing about that game was FNU was ahead of Stetson in the first half 47-35. FNU even shot more 3-pointers than Stetson (13 FNU, 9 Stetson). It was embarrassing for them, and I was really letting them have it. Last year, we played FNU and we blew them out 107-50, so there's a big difference. If Stetson would have lost, then they're season is done.

During the men's game, the entire men's and women's swimming and diving teams from NCAA DIII Gustavus Adolphus College joined the Dirty Birds in the student section and really hyped up the crowd. I was amazed that they traveled all the way from Minnesota to cheer for our men's basketball team, along with competing in the Triple Distance Classic yesterday. I thanked everyone of the swimmers and divers for supporting us, and was very grateful they came. The day after thanking them for supporting FGCU, I sent a big shoutout to them and the entire athletics program via Twitter.

"@GustieAthletics I just wanted to give the swimming and diving team a shoutout and a big thank you for supporting @FGCU_MBB in our conference game against Stetson. I loved the energy and spirit you brought to the game. Thank you very much 😊"

As school starts, the men's basketball team returns to conference action on Thursday. January 11 at 7 P.M. as they play USC Upstate. The game will be dubbed a Blue Out.

On Saturday, January 13th, both teams will compete against NJIT (women 4 P.M., men 7 P.M.) where both games are dubbed as a Pink Out. The women will play one more game at home against USC Upstate on Monday, January 15 at 7 P.M. where that game is also dubbed a Blue Out.

Below are some pics with me and the men's basketball players after the game: