A buzzer-beater by junior Jalen Warren handed the FGCU men's basketball team its first win of the season as the Eagles downed cross-state rival FAU in overtime by a score of 72-70 Wednesday night at Alico Arena. The shot capped off a career night for Warren who finished with a career-high 21 points and matched his season best with five assists.
"I told the guys that in my time here, this was probably as good of a win in terms of pride in our program since I've been with FGCU. I can't recall coming back from that many - I think we were down 19 in the second half," said head coach Michael Fly. "We've had some good comebacks and it reminded me of the Lipscomb tournament game a few years ago where we kept coming back but didn't have enough to get over the hump. I kept telling them – make sure you know you are going win this game. Overall, I'm just really proud of our guys and their effort."
The game saw limited action in the opening minutes of play, as it took the teams almost a full two minutes to get on the board. The Owls (2-3) were the first to do so, as Richardson Maitre nailed a jumper to put the visitors up 2-0. Junior Sam Gagliardi responded for the Eagles (1-4), pouring in a baseline trey.
From there, it was quiet on the Green and Blue front as FAU used a 20-2 run to pull away from the home team. The Owls kept the momentum in their favor taking a 29-16 lead into the break.
The second half was an entirely different story, as there were seven lead changes and six ties. While FGCU and FAU were evenly matched coming out of the break, junior Justus Rainwater punctuated a turnover forced by Warren with a dunk, pulling the Eagles within nine.
With just under six minutes to go, momentum began to shift in favor of the home team. Freshman Dakota Rivers got things started with an old fashioned three-point play that cut the Owls' lead down to seven. Warren tipped the following inbound pass to sophomore Caleb Catto, who drilled a three-pointer that pulled the FGCU within five.
In the final minutes of regulation, the Eagles outscored the Owls 9-5 and forced the game into overtime with Warren scored the deciding layup with less than a minute to go, marking the first time the team played past regulation since an overtime victory at USC Upstate on Feb. 18, 2017. FGCU outscored FAU 41-28 in the second half thanks to a 53 percent shooting effort.
The teams went back-and-forth to start of the overtime period, but sophomore Zach Scott handed the team its largest lead of the game – three points – with a layup that put the Eagles up 60-63 with three minutes left.
Scott and Gagliardi each contributed crucial points for FGCU during the final plays of the night, but it was ultimately Warren whose floater proved to be the deciding factor as the team claimed its victory.
In addition to Warren's career night, multiple Eagles tallied personal bests. Rivers tallied a career-high 13 points, while Rainwater corralled 10 rebounds. Scott finished the night with 11 points, while Catto had 10 in the win.
FAU was led by Michael Forrest who had 16 points.
Up Next:
FGCU will remain at Alico Arena to host the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic. The Thanksgiving tournament is set to run from Nov. 26 – Dec. 1 and will feature Florida Tech, North Dakota, Campbell and Georgia Southern. The Eagles' first game of the tournament will be on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. as the team is set to take on Florida Tech.
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