FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University hit 15 three-pointers, 12 in the first half, on their way to beating the Southeastern Louisiana University men's basketball team, 90-71, Saturday in the second day of the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Invitational at Alico Arena.
SLU (3-4) held strong early despite the early onslaught from the Eagles as they trailed 15-13 at the first media timeout. The Lions scored 10 of their first 13 points in the paint or at the free throw line.
However, following the first media timeout, FGCU (5-2) went on a 12-0 run highlighted by a pair of three-pointers. The Lions trimmed the lead back to single digits after
Joe Kasperzyk scored on a beautiful reverse lay-up and was fouled hitting the free throw which cut the FGCU lead to eight, 30-22, with 9:30 left until halftime.
The Eagles continued their torrid three-point shooting as they went on a 15-4 run to push their lead to 19, 45-26, as they took an 18-point lead to intermission, 59-41. FGCU finished the first half 21-for-32 (65 percent) from the field and an eye-popping 13-for-21 from the three-point line.
The Lions' defense cracked down in the second half as they forced the Eagles into four straight turnovers to start the half. But the Lions' offense stalled as they shot just 2-for-13 to start the second half as FGCU continued to pull away stretching the lead to as much as 25, 74-49.
SLU fought back again as they cut the deficit to 15, 82-67, with 3:37 remaining. But that's as close as the Lions would get as the Eagles picked up the victory.
Junior
Gus Okafor led the Lions with 23 points on 6-for-12 shooting. The Baltimore, Maryland native was also 9-for-12 from the free throw line.
Jalyn Hinton had another solid all-around game scoring nine points, grabbing 10 rebounds, blocking four shots, dishing out three assists and had two steals.
Joe Kasperzyk and
Ryan Burkhardt each chipped in with nine to pace the Lions.
The Eagles had four players in double figures led by TCU transfer Kevin Samuel with 18 points and six blocked shots. Cyrus Largie add 17 points while Austin Richie and Andre Weir had 12 and 10 respectively.
FGCU finished the game 33-for-61 (54 percent) and 15-for-35 from the three-point line as SLU held the Eagles to just 3-for-14 from long range in the second half.
The Lions weren't bad either from long range as they shot 40 percent (10-for-25) led by Burkhardt with three from downtown. However, the Lions shot just 36 percent from the field for the game on 23-for-64 shooting.
The Eagles outrebounded the Lions 43-32 but SLU forced FGCU into 20 turnovers while the Lions had just 14.
Next up, the Lions will conclude the FGCU Invitational Sunday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. CT when they face Western Michigan. WMU edged Purdue Fort Wayne Saturday afternoon in overtime 93-85.
Fans can follow Sunday's game with links to audio and stats available on the Southeastern men's basketball schedule page at
www.LionSports.net.
HARDWOOD CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the basketball program are encouraged to join the Hardwood Club. Lion alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letterwinners. All membership fees and donations to Hardwood Club are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern basketball program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at
laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting
www.LionUp.com.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Basketball, follow @LionUpMBB and @DavidKieferSLU on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit
www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
