In the Battle of the Eagles, the FGCU men's basketball team (3-8) redeemed themselves in their rematch with a 96-76 victory over Oral Roberts (3-8) Wednesday night inside Mabee Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With the win, the Eagles snapped their six-game losing streak.
"Because of the way we've been struggling, that was probably the best win from an emotional standpoint in my time here. That looked like what our program is supposed to look like," FGCU head coach Michael Fly said. "(ORU) played really hard and attacked us on the glass, but our guys made shots tonight. Schadrac and Decardo came up big at the point guard position."
The opening 13 minutes saw a whopping 12 lead changes as the two sides fought to pull away from one another. FGCU used a brief 7-0 run to peek on top 40-32 with five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. ORU kept the Eagles within striking distance and held the halftime deficit down to 52-45.
The home team dwindled the FGCU advantage to four at one point early in the second half. The Golden Eagles remained close down just 70-62 with 11:16 remaining, but the Eagles went on an 11-0 run to take a commanding lead. That push deflated the home crowd and was all the visitors needed to seize control. FGCU led by as much as 25 points before settling for the final 20-point cushion.
Redshirt senior Casimir led four FGCU players in double figures with a season-high 24 points and was 6-for-7 at the three-point line.
Juniors Decardo Day and RaySean Scott Jr. both registered a season-best 16 points, and senior Dinero Mercurius added 13 off the bench. In total, 10 different Eagles scored in the victory.
Redshirt junior Brady Ernst came in clutch with eight points and four rebounds in his fifth straight start of the season (sixth this season) while being 4-for-4 at the free throw line.
Freshman Caleb Cotto had nine points and was 3-for-3 at the three-point line.
Sophomore Brian Thomas finished with two points and five rebounds.
Despite only playing one minute, redshirt sophomore Kyle Hoffman played with senior Dolan Mahoney and redshirt freshman Ryan Roucant. Hoffman made his debut as a walk-on double transfer spending his freshman year on the JV team at NAIA Ottowa University (Ok) prior to his transfer to Kansas before sitting out the 2017-18 season per the NCAA transfer rule.
FGCU shot 60 percent both overall (33-for-55) and behind the 3-point line (15-for-25), while hitting at an 88.2 percent clip at the free-throw line (15-for-17). The 15 made 3-pointers broke the Mabee Center single-game record by an opponent.
ORU shot 51.7 percent (31-for-60) overall, 31.8 percent (7-for-22) from distance and 53.8 percent (7-for-13) at the line. The Golden Eagles were paced by 16 points from redshirt junior Emmanuel Nzekwesi.
Junior Aidan Saunders chipped in 14, while freshman DeShang Weaver added 11.
Up Next:
FGCU continues its brief two-game road swing with a game at UMBC. The two mid-major powers will face off at 7 p.m. Dec. 16 in Baltimore. The contest will be the first between the two programs.
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