By BILL LEVY (Photos of the game click here)
It was a night for records to be broken in Florida Gulf Coast University’s 79-62 victory over Ohio University at the Alico Arena on Wednesday night. Senior Bernard Thompson led all scorers with 34 points, which was the most an FGCU player scored in the NCAA Division 1 era. Fellow senior Brett Comer also broke the Atlantic Sun Conference assist record, which was previously held by Mercer’s Langston Hall at 633. Comer finished the night with 10 assists and now has 641 in his storied career. The game was played in front of a season high 4,633 fans; the third sellout in a row and the first standing room only crowd of the season.
The Eagles remain undefeated at 3-0 in large part due to Thompson’s 14 field goals, which included three 3-pointers, on the night. For the game, he shot 14 for 20.
“Bernard has a tendency to be passive,” FCGU coach Joe Dooley said. “Today he was more aggressive and more assertive.”
The Eagles opened the game on by outscoring Ohio (1-1) 21-7. That streak was highlighted by Thompson’s 3-pointer, coming off of Comer’s record breaking assist, as he found him in the right hand corner.
“Someone had to score (for him to get the record),” Comer said. “It is probably appropriate it is Bernard as we have been through so much together.”
Despite the Bobcats scoring the next five points, the Eagles outscored Ohio 24-8 the rest of the half to go up 45-20.
“We had three guys who never played a college road game before,” Bobcats coach Saul Phillips said. “We didn’t get the ball inside. Some of the credit needs to go to Florida Gulf Coast. They are a special team. They are legit. I like the way they play.”
Ohio though opened the second half on a 24-9 run of their own, capped off by Javarez Willis’s four consecutive free throws which were the result of Comer and Dooley technical fouls.
“We need to learn how to keep the foot on the gas,” Dooley said. “We need to put teams away. They are a good team though, and will get better as they get more experience.”
That was the closest though that Ohio would get, as FCGU controlled the tempo the rest of the game, with the help of the capacity crowd.
“We are so appreciative,” said Dooley, who was able to encourage the crowd to get on their feet when Ohio went on its second half run. “It’s something we constantly comment on. Every recruit, every player mentions what a fun environment it is. We have great support and I hope they know how appreciative we are.”