In the first of a home and home this season with Middle Tennessee State University, the Blue Raiders dominated FGCU to extend the Eagles losing streak to two. The two teams will play in Fort Myers with FGCU hosting MTSU in 10 days.
It was the first time since 2012 that the Eagles trailed by more than 18 at halftime since losing to Duke by 21 in North Carolina.
The game consisted of 70 free throws with a combined 54 fouls between the two teams in a slow moving first half. Brandon Goodwin led FGCU with 20 points and Zach Johnson added 18 in the loss.
The Eagles started their dreadful night missing eight of the nine shots, as the Eagles fell behind by eight early on in the game.
FGCU finally was able to hit a couple of shots, but right after. MTSU went on a 7-0 run to take a 20-7 lead.
The Blue Raiders started to get hot from behind the arc, as Karl Gamble and Ed Stinson both hit threes and it was suddenly a 20-point deficit for the Eagles.
While only hitting seven field goals in the first half without a three pointer, FGCU scored 15 or their 29 points from the free throw line while allowing MTSU to shoot 55 percent from the field.
The 15 free throws made are the most in Division I era since the 2007-2008 season.
In the second half, Johnson was fouled and converted three-point play for his first field goal of the night to get the Eagles within 14. Christian Carlyle finally hit the first three pointer for FGCU shortly after to bring the deficit to 10.
Hovever, MTSU followed that with a 6-0 run to go up 59-43 six minutes into the half and they would go on run away a bit getting ahead by 20.
Goodwin and Johnson continued to cut into the lead, but it would not be enough as the Blue Raiders went on to win 85-72.
Categories:
Eagles drop second straight versus Middle Tennessee 85-72
November 22, 2017
Story continues below advertisement
0
More to Discover