The FGCU men's basketball team (9-15, 4-5 ASUN) earned its third-straight home win by defeating Jacksonville (10-14, 3-6 ASUN) 73-60 Saturday night inside Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles are now 13-11 against the Dolphins.
The Eagles were celebrating their Homecoming Week and capped off the festivities with a big A-SUN Conference triumph in front of 4,009 fans.
A trio of Eagles scored in double figures, led by true freshman Zach Scott's 18. Seniors Schadrac Casimir (17) and Dinero Mercurius (11) also notched double digits to lead the Green and Blue to victory.
"That was a great team win tonight. We've had to fight through a lot of adversity this season, and it's nice to see the players respond the way they have lately," FGCU coach Michael Fly said. "(Jacksonville) threw the first punch getting ahead 10-0, but we were able to maintain our composure and find a way back in it."
FGCU shot 55.3 percent (26-for-47) from the field, 35.0 percent (7-for-20) from behind the 3-point line and 60.9 percent (14-for-23) at the free-throw line. JU countered with shooting percentages of 35.9 (23-for-64) overall, 29.0 (9-for-31) from deep and 38.5 (5-for-13) from the line.
Senior JD Notae scored 22 points before fouling out, while Tyreese Davis added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Dolphins.
Jacksonville came out rocking, scoring the first 10 points of the game. The visitors maintained that cushion up until finding a 16-6 advantage at the under-12 media timeout. The next six minutes were, quite literally, all FGCU. The Eagles erupted on a 19-0 run that featured eight points from Mercurius and nine combined between freshmen Scott and Caleb Catto. The Dolphins also went 0-for-7 and turned the ball over five times during that critical stretch.
JU was able to get within four late in the opening stanza, but a 3-point basket from Casimir in the final minute of the frame sent FGCU into the locker room with a 32-25 cushion.
The Eagles never trailed in the second half, but the visitors did not allow the home side to run away with the game. Jacksonville closed the gap to within four at the 14:37 mark, but FGCU pushed back on top by 10 at 49-39 with 12 minutes left in the contest. After struggling from the free-throw line early in the game, the Eagles went 13-for-16 down the stretch to help seal the victory. Scott also scored nine of his team-high 18 in the final 10 minutes of regulation.
FGCU outrebounded Jacksonville 36-33 and also led in assists (14-11), blocks (4-2), points in the paint (38-28), points off turnovers (20-15), fast-break points (15-13), and bench points (22-9).
Up Next:
The Eagles remain in Alico Arena for a contest against North Alabama at 7 p.m. Feb. 6. The Wednesday tilt will be a Whiteout, and FGCU will look to split the season series after the Lions knocked off the Green and Blue 61-56 on Jan. 8 in Florence, Alabama.
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