The FGCU men's basketball team (14-18) fell 83-78 to NJIT (21-11) in the opening round of the 2019 A-SUN Conference Championship Monday night in Alico Arena. The setback was the first in school history for the No. 4-seeded Eagles in the quarterfinals of the tournament, while the Highlanders picked up their first A-SUN tourney win in their school history.
FGCU will now await the call for a potential berth in a postseason event, while No. 5 NJIT advances to the semifinals to face No. 2 Liberty.
"I'm proud of the team for not folding when we were 2-8 (to start the year), for not folding when we were 0-3 (to start conference play) and not folding tonight. That would have been easy to do at any point," FGCU coach Michael Fly said. "I've been doing this awhile, and I have never faced this much adversity in one season from an injury standpoint to guys having to play out of position. These guys bought in, continued to fight and never rolled over. I couldn't be more proud of our group."
Senior Dinero Mercurius erupted for a game- and career-high 27 points. He went 10 of 15 overall and was 5 of 10 from downtown. Sophomore Troy Baxter Jr. contributed 15 points, and true freshman Caleb Catto ended with 11 off the bench for his first time in double figures since Feb. 6.
The Eagles shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field, 45.2 percent (14-for-31) from behind the 3-point line and 60 percent (6-for-10) at the free-throw line. The Highlanders shot 54.5 percent (24-for-44) overall, 58.8 percent (10-for-17) from distance and 78.1 percent (25-for-32) at the charity stripe.
Diandre Wilson paced the visitors with 26 points, while Zach Cooks added 25 and Abdul Lewis contributed 18.
NJIT came blistering out of the gates and led 23-7 10 minutes into the contest. The visitors powered ahead by as many as 20 (33-13) with six minutes left in the opening half, but the Eagles finally settled into the game and began to chip away at the lead. They went on a tear in the final four minutes, knocking down shot after shot until the halftime score saw the visitors on top by just five at 38-33. The 20-5 run to close the half was capped by a 3-point buzzer beater from senior Schadrac Casimir.
FGCU cut the deficit to 38-36 early in the second half, but the home side went cold for a stretch that allowed NJIT to extend its advantage back out to 63-43 with eight minutes to play. The magic at the end of the first half came storming back for the Eagles, however, as they were able to use a hefty 33-16 run to pull within 79-76 with 25 seconds to play. The visitors made their free throws down the stretch and were able to hold the Green and Blue at arms length, never allowing FGCU a possession in the final minute where they were within three or less.
The Eagles led the night in assists (19-14), blocks (5-2), points in the paint (30-16), fast-break points (19-10), and bench production (24-4). Both teams finished with 28 rebounds.
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