Eagles set to begin A-Sun slate
College basketball’s second season gets under way this weekend for the FGCU Eagles, who finished off their nonconference slate on Tuesday with a 104-59 rout of Webber International at Alico Arena.
As the sun rises on the Atlantic Sun Conference portion of the schedule, both the Eagles men’s and women’s teams host the Stetson Hatters in a doubleheader at Alico that tips off at 4 p.m. with the women’s game. The men follow at 7 p.m. Stetson (6-9) will have one conference game under its belt before the meeting with FGCU, opening Wednesday against North Florida.
Saturday’s conference opener is the first of three straight at Alico Arena. New Jersey Institute of Technology comes to town on Jan. 14 followed by USC Upstate on Jan. 16.
The Eagles (9-7) have won three games in a row and currently are 8-3 on their home floor. It took the eagles just five minutes to build a double-figure lead on Webber Tuesday night. The advantage swelled to a much as 28 points just before halftime.
“The ball moved a lot better today, and that’s something we’ve been talking a lot about,” said Eagles coach Joe Dooley. “It was good to get a lot of the younger guys some minutes today. It also gave us a chance to play against some zone defense, which is good because I think we’ll see quite a bit of that in conference play.”
The 104 points are the most in a D-I regulation game in Eagles history, besting the previous record of 101 scored against Longwood in January 2012. It also represents the second time this season the Eagles reached the century mark, including the 104 scored on Youngstown State in triple overtime on Nov. 21. It’s also the first time in program history that the Eagles had multiple 100-point outings in the same season.
The FGCU women (12-4), winners of five in a row and nine of their last 10, posted at least 10 nonconference wins for the second consecutive season. The defending A-Sun Conference champion Eagles begin their quest for another season title and automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament with their first three conference tests at Alico Arena. USC Upstate comes to campus on Jan. 16 followed by NJIT on Jan. 18.