FGCU one and done
Julian DeBose and three teammates scored in double figures Wednesday night, but the FGCU basketball team’s season came to an abrupt end with a 75-69 loss at Alico Arena to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the CIT Tournament.
DeBose topped the Eagles (22-11) with 18 points. Playing his final game at The Nest, Bernard Thompson finished with 15 points and six rebounds. Fellow classmate Brett Comer tallied 11 points and issued seven assists. Redshirt sophomore Marc-Eddy Norelia capped the quartet with 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds.
Playing in its second straight CIT, TAMCC hit nine of its first 11 shots and eventually built a 13-point lead midway through the first half. Helped in large part by a pair of freshmen, the Eagles closed the half strong and trailed by 37-34 at the break.
A quick 6-0 spurt by the Islanders midway through the second half turned a five-point lead into 11, 56-45. From there the Eagles got no closer than six the rest of the way.
The comeback attempt was severely hampered by shooting just 29.4 percent from the free-throw line. The Islanders held on sinking 13-of-15 at the stripe.