In their second match in less than 10 days, the FGCU men’s basketball team suffered a tough 72-59 loss against Georgia Southern Tuesday night.
When the two teams played on Dec. 4, the Eagles came out on top in Statesboro, Georgia, 85-82.
Turnovers and poor shooting were two major components of the Eagles’ defeat. FGCU committed a season-high-tying 19 turnovers and shot below 40 percent from the floor.
Offensively, Brandon Goodwin continues to be a key role in putting points up on the board. For the seventh time in 11 games, Goodwin totaled 13 points, along with Zach Johnson.
Christian Terrell was also strong offensively and defensively, putting up 10 points and five rebounds. Goodwin also grabbed a season-best six rebounds and totaled three assists.
FGCU came into the game having controlled a majority of their previous matches. However, last night they only led for just two minutes and 36 seconds against Georgia Southern.
Following a 3-pointer from Georgia Southern’s, B.J. Gladden, at the 14:13 mark of the first half, the visiting team continued to dominate and never trailed the rest of the game.
Though the outcome didn’t favor the Eagles, Morant was a dominant force for FGCU.  Morant played a career-high 36 minutes – grabbed six offensive rebounds and 11 defensive rebounds, and was a perfect 5-5 from the floor. Now, he is shooting at 74.5 percent (35-47) from the floor.
However, FGCU’s top-five nationally-ranked perimeter defense was tested by Georgia Southern.
Coming into the match, FGCU held their opponents to just 25.5 percent from beyond the arc, but Georgia Southern made nine of 28 attempts for 32.1 percent as part of a total 42.4 percent effort from the floor.
Next, the Eagles will remain on the road for the next two games, but will first head to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to face La Salle on Saturday, Dec. 17, at 2:00 p.m. FGCU will then finish up in Ruston, Louisiana, to face Louisiana Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m.