By Bill Levy (Click here to see other photos)
Florida Gulf Coast University men’s basketball coach Joe Dooley has often noted that his teams have gotten off to a sluggish start in games this season. The good news is that they got off to a good start in their 69-63 loss to Florida International University on Sunday afternoon at the Alico Dome in front of 3,511. The bad news is the second half did not go quite as well.
After FGCU (8-2) opened the game by building a 22-8 lead, FIU then went on a 20-10 run of their own to cut the Eagles margin to four points at 32-28 at halftime. Though FIU (6-4) was able to make it a two-point game on two occasions at 37-35 and 39-37 near the start of the second half, Demetris Morant’s alley-oop dunk from Brett Comer gave the Eagles their four point lead back at 41-37 with just over thirteen minutes left in the game. From there however, the Panthers then went on a 12-0 run to go up 49-41. After the Eagles scored the next four points to make it 49-45, the Panthers outscored the Eagles 18-10 to take control of the game. In that stretch, the Panthers’ Dennis Mavin had eight of his game high 27 points.
For FGCU, it was the first time they lost a game when leading at halftime since 2012.
“I would like to congratulate FIU,” Dooley said. “They dominated the second half. I thought Mavin took over and we weren’t able to contain him. Our energy level wasn’t great and our shout selection was poor. I can’t understand it. It is disappointing how we finished.”
Panthers coach Anthony Evans had an explanation for the turnaround.
“We started playing team basketball and stopped playing as individuals,” he said. “People started making contributions that benefitted the team.”
FIU was able to come away with the victory despite three Eagles scoring in double digits: Comer (15) along with Bernard Thompson and Julian DeBose who each had 12. In addition, Thompson had two rebounds and becomes just the second Eagle to amass 500 in their career.
“They are a very good basketball team,” Evans said. “They are coming off a big win against UMASS. They have tournament NCAA Tournament experience. We knew it would be a tough challenge.”