The FGCU men's basketball team (4-8) return home to the Alico Arena as they welcome NAIA Keiser University (4-9, 2-4 TSC) on Wednesday, December 19 at 7:30 P.M. for their first ever matchup of their final home game of the new year. The game will also be as part of a doubleheader as the women's basketball team (8-2) faces Coppin State (0-9) in the opening game of the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic.
As usually noted, since Keiser is an NAIA team, the game will be listed as an exhibition for them and will not affect their season record, while for the Eagles it will be a season game but will not affect their RPI ranking.
Last Time Out:
The Eagles are entering with a two-game winning streak after they defeated Oral Roberts in a rematch (96-76) and fellow Cinderella team UMBC (76-53) as part of their two-game road trip and snapping a six-game losing streak.
It was redshirt senior Schadrac Casimir that led the way for the Eagles as he is averaging 12.2 points per game. Casimir had 14 points against UMBC. As a result to go along the 24 point he had against Oral Roberts, the Iona transfer was named A-SUN Newcomer of the Week.
As far as big men, redshirt junior Brady Ernst and sophomore Brian Thomas have also came in clutch.
Ernst has started eight of his 12 games played and is averaging 5.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Although he did not score any points against UMBC, The double transfer from Iowa State and Indian Hills had eight rebounds and two blocks.
Despite only playing three games, Thomas has been a good factor defensively and it shows even if he's averaging 2.7 points per game. As far as rebounding and blocking, Thomas is averaging 4.3 rebounds and two blocks per game. In his return game against Colgate, he had three rebounds and four blocks, while on the road he had 10 combined rebounds and two blocks.
End of the Season:
It was announced that redshirt senior Hannif Cheatham will be ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder injury. Cheatham was leading the Eagles in points per game (13.2).
"Though I'm really frustrated for Haanif and our program, knowing his character and his competitive drive, he will be back on the court stronger than ever," head coach Michael Fly said. "I'm confident he'll have the opportunity to continue his career at a professional level when he is fully healthy. Haanif has our program's full support and his FGCU family will encourage him throughout the rehab process. Though he's only been at FGCU a short time, he has demonstrated our program's standard of toughness by playing with this lingering injury throughout the season."
Scouting Keiser:
Yes, this is the same Keiser that you would see in commercials for their culinary program with their main campus in Fort Lauderdale, but for the athletics, it is located in West Palm Beach.
The Seahawks are led by interim head coach Bob Starkman and are coming off winning two of their last three games at home where they defeated Florida Memorial (74-63) and Carolina Christian (2-0 via forfeit) before losing to Florida National (79-77). Now in fairness, that is disappointing that they would win one game by forfeit because I'm sure that the Seahawks were looking forward to facing Carolina Christian.
Currently, the Seahawks sit in seventh place in the Sun Conference and will play Mitchell College Tuesday, December 18 at 7 P.M. for non-conference play prior to playing FGCU.
Senior Andrija Matic and freshman Aaron Gedeon lead the way for the Seahawks.
Matic is averaging 15.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. In his last game against Florida National, the Serbian had a double-double of 22 points and 10 rebounds. In fact, the American University transfer has five double-double for the season.
Gedeon is averaging 11.5 points per game. In his last game, Gedeon also had a double-double of 2 points and 12 rebounds.
Sophomore Marko Radulovic and junior Marko Orlic also contribute profoundly.
Radulovic is averaging 10.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while Orlic is averaging 10.6 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Against Florida National, Radulovic had 13 points and nine rebounds while Orlic had 10 points and five rebounds.
How to Keep Up:
The game will have livestats and will air on ESPN+. The commentary at FGCU will be led by play-by-play commentator David Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.
Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_MBB
Keiser: @KUSeahawksMBB
ESPN+:
FGCU will air on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, the new home for all A-SUN sports. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards.
Promotions:
There will be an ugly Christmas sweater contest for the doubleheader.
Livestats link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=238815
Livestream link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/915b9f4c-2bfc-45f7-96ad-b25a3137038f/keiser-vs-florida-gulf-coast
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