Behind 18 points from both junior Sam Gagliardi and freshman Dakota Rivers, the FGCU men's basketball team (2-5) rolled past Florida Tech, 73-59, on Tuesday night at Alico Arena. The 18 points for both players were season-highs with Gagliardi hitting six three pointers and Rivers going 7-of-10 from the floor.
The game marked the opening contest of the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic which will resume with six more games from Friday through Sunday. The Eagles will next be in action on Friday at 7 PM against North Dakota. Fans are encouraged to bring canned food items to benefit the FGCU and Harry Chapin Food Banks along with new, unwrapped toys to donate to Toys for Tots and Golisano's Childrens Hospital.
Friday, Nov. 29
Campbell vs. Georgia Southern - 4:30 PM
FGCU vs. North Dakota - 7 PM
Saturday, Nov. 30
Georgia Southern vs. North Dakota - 4:30 PM
FGCU vs. Campbell - 7 PM
Sunday, Dec. 1
North Dakota vs. Campbell - Noon
FGCU vs. Georgia Southern - 5 PM
In Tuesday night's action, Gagliardi's six three pointers marked a season high as the junior has averaged 11.0 points over the last four games including tonight. In that same span, Rivers has also had a break-out stretch with three double-figure games and an average of 11.5 points. Nine players overall tallied points in the game including redshirt sophomore Malik Hardy who saw his first action as an Eagle recording five points in 13 minutes. Junior Justus Rainwater hauled in a season-high 12 rebounds which also served as a game-high.
"I thought Florida Tech did a great job being competitive against us tonight," said head coach Michael Fly. "We still need to improve on closing games out, especially when we have a double-digit lead. But I was encouraged that we out-rebounded them because they had some physical players and I was extremely pleased that we took care of the ball and had just 12 turnovers. We showed a lot of positives in the game and it's always good to get a win, especially at home. We still have some growth to see in certain areas, but I was happy overall with how we performed."
Sesan Russell led Florida Tech with 23 points as the top scorer on the night while adding nine rebounds. Mate Papai added nine points, while Trey Schaneville had eight points to lead the Panthers (2-3).
Overall, FGCU was bolstered by going 12-of-26 from beyond the arc compared to 6-of-18 for Florida Tech. The Eagles also converted 22 points off 17 FIT turnovers.
FGCU built out an early 13-2 lead in the first four minutes of play thanks to a pair of sophomore Zach Scott three pointers and the first of six for Gagliardi. Over the next six minutes, the Eagles lead stretched to 16 before going into the break up 42-24 on a Jalen Warren lay-up just before time expired.
The lead swelled to 19, 45-26, early in the second half on another Gagliardi three pointer and never dipped below double-figures for the remainder of the game. Florida Tech did manage to whittle it down to 57-47 with 9:40 to go, but the Eagles pushed it back to 19 over the next seven minutes.
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