The Eagles (14-17, 9-7 A-SUN) won four of their last five games and finished 9-4 in their last 13 to vault into a third-place tie in the final A-SUN standings. They are the No. 4 seed in the tournament. The fifth-seeded Highlanders (20-11, 8-8 A-SUN) went 2-6 across their final eight games to fall from third to fifth at the end of the regular season.
FGCU enters postseason play as owners of the longest home win streak in the conference (seven), and the team just recently snapped a four-game road losing streak. NJIT is 1-4 in its last five games away from home.
Last Time Out:
FGCU wrapped up the regular season with a gritty 77-74 victory at Jacksonville Friday night in Historic Swisher Gymnasium. The win for FGCU snapped a four-game losing skid on the road and gave the Eagles the season sweep over the Dolphins.
Senior Dinero Mercurius led FGCU with 12 points, while classmate Schadrac Casimir added 11 and sophomore Troy Baxter Jr. contributed 10. All nine players that stepped on the floor scored at least five, and seven different Eagles scored at least eight.
FGCU finished 14-for-23 (60.7 percent) from behind the 3-point arc. The 14 made 3-pointers was the highest total in an A-SUN game this year and second-most all season. The Eagles shot 46.7 percent (28-for-60) overall and 63.6 percent (7-for-11) at the free-throw line. The Dolphins shot 50 percent (29-for-58) from the field, 34.6 percent (9-for-26) from behind the arc and 58.3 percent (7-for-12) at the charity stripe.
FGCU outrebounded JU 38-27 and also led in assists (19-11), second-chance points (13-6) and points off the bench (31-19).
Tournament Breakdown:
The 2019 A-SUN Conference Men's Basketball Championship will be conducted March 4-10. The top eight teams qualified for postseason play, and each round will be hosted by the higher seed. FGCU is the No. 4 seed and will be playing host to No. 5 NJIT. No. 1 Lipscomb will host No. 8 Kennesaw State, No. 2 Liberty is playing host to No. 7 Jacksonville, and No. 3 North Florida hosts No. 6 North Alabama.
Reseeding will take place after the quarterfinals, with the top two remaining seeds hosting semifinal games March 7. The title game will be held at 3 p.m. March 10 at the site of the top remaining seed. FGCU has won the conference tournament three times in the last six years, and the team also hosted the championship game last season.
FGCU in the A-SUN Tournament:
The FGCU men's basketball team owns a 16-4 record all-time in the ASUN Championship tournament. The Eagles have never lost in the quarterfinals (7-0) and have reached the title game in six of the last seven years. FGCU competed as the No. 4 seed just one other time, winning the tournament in 2016.
2012 - 2-1 - Runner-up (6 seed)
2013 - 3-0 - Champions (2 seed)
2014 - 2-1 - Runner-up (1 seed)
2015 - 1-1 - Semifinals (2 seed)
2016 - 3-0 - Champions (4 seed)
2017 - 3-0 - Champions (1 seed)
2018 - 2-1 - Runner-up (1 seed)
2019 - TBD (4 seed)
Scouting NJIT:
The Highlanders are one of just three A-SUN programs to reach the 20-win plateau this season. The Highlanders earned marquee non-conference triumphs over the likes of Colgate, Army and Wagner, while collecting league wins over every team except Lipscomb and Liberty.
Abdul Lewis (13.0 ppg, 9.3 rpg) leads the league in rebounding, while Zach Cooks (17.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) is the third-best scorer in the A-SUN this year. Cooks is also second for NJIT in rebounding. Diandre Wilson (11.3 ppg) completes a trio of Highlanders who score in double figures.
NJIT is 10-7 on the road this season.
Series History:
Monday's game will be the first meeting between the two programs in postseason play. FGCU leads the all-time series 6-2, which includes taking down the Highlanders 57-55 in Fort Myers on Feb. 13. The two sides split the regular season matchups, as NJIT topped the Eagles 66-54 Jan. 30 in New Jersey. Every meeting has come since 2016.
How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available and will air on ESPN+. Commentary will be provided by play-by-play commentator David Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.
Fans can also keep updated on the teams' Twitter accounts:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB
NJIT: @NJITMBB
ESPN+:
The A-SUN will air on the new, subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, which will be the new home for select FGCU and A-SUN games and event broadcasts. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards or can pay $39.99 per-year based on the viewers subscription choice.
ESPN+ Link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/4d93b96d-3937-4154-9d73-103071d0fb84/asun-mens-basketball-tournament
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