By BILL LEVY Click here to see other photos of the game
For the Florida Gulf Coast men’s basketball team, it was a case of too much of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay being the aggressor and too much of the Phoenix’s standout guard Keifer Sykes, in Green Bay’s 59-45 victory over FGCU in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase Wednesday night at Germain Arena in front of 3,857. For Eagles’ coach Joe Dooley, it was just too much.
“Green Bay dominated the game from the beginning to the end,” he said. “They were the aggressors. There was a lack (of FGCU) of going after loose balls. I’m disappointed. Our offense was inept, though they played good defense. We have things to work on.”
Much of the Eagles’ (5-1) problems occurred when Sykes was on the floor. After Green Bay out to a 15-0 lead at the start of the game, FGCU was able to go on a 7-0 run of their own, with most of it occurring while Sykes was on the bench after getting a foul. After Sykes came back in, the teams primarily swapped baskets until FGCU went on a 9-2 run near the end of the half to cut the lead to only 25-20. Again, that was done primarily with Sykes on the bench, after he got his second foul. A Green Bay free throw made the score 26-20 at the half.
When Sykes got his third foul of the game at the start of the second half, it appeared that that the Eagles would be able to go on another run, but that was not the case, as the Phoenix promptly went on a 8-2 run of their own, with Sykes still in the game, to go up 34-22 and take full control of the game.
“We had some shots (at the beginning of the second half),” Dooley said. “They didn’t go in.”
Sykes, a 6’0” senior guard out of Chicago, knew what his presence on the court meant to the Phoenix (4-1).
“It (His third foul) was frustrating,” he said. “It was tough to get it with 17 minutes left in the game. My teammates had my back though. They told me not to lose my aggressiveness.”
He also mentioned that they changed their defensive assignments to guard against him getting another quick foul. For the game, he finished with 19 points and five assists in 29 minutes of play. He was named the MVP of tournament.
“He is very explosive,” Dooley said. “He has a bright future and can play for money.”
Joining Sykes on the All-Tournament Team was his teammate Greg Mays who had 15 points and ten rebounds on the night. Green Bay also received solid contributions from Jordan Fouse (seven points) and Carrington Love (eight points).
“This was a great accomplishment,” Green Bay coach Brian Wardle said. “I am very proud. We had some great practices leading up to this. It was a very good basketball game. They are a good team. We did a great job defensively. We played like we are a on a mission. It is good to get a feel of what winning a championship is like.”
Though FGCU also placed two players on the All-Tournament Team in seniors Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson, who finished the game with ten and 14 points respectively, no one from the Eagles side was in much of a celebratory mood. FGCU hasn’t scored as few points as they did in this game since 2009, when they also scored 45 against Campbell.
“(On offense) we are not making good decisions. On defense we can’t get stops,” Comer said.