A 15-0 run that spanned from the closing stages of the first half to the start of the second pushed Florida Gulf Coast University to a double-digit lead it would never relinquish as the Eagles defeated the University of Richmond 75-57 in Richmond, Virginia Saturday night.FGCU’s big men Keeshawn Kellman and Tristen Guillouette were able […]
A 15-0 run that spanned from the closing stages of the first half to the start of the second pushed Florida Gulf Coast University to a double-digit lead it would never relinquish as the Eagles defeated the University of Richmond 75-57 in Richmond, Virginia Saturday night.FGCU’s big men Keeshawn Kellman and Tristen Guillouette were able to combine for 32 minutes on the court tonight with the duo combining for 14 rebounds. Duax and Stewart each dropped nine points for the Eagles, with McLean adding seven.”We really hung tough during a tough time,” said FGCU head coach Pat Chambers. “We had three guys with food poisoning and we didn’t think they’d play. We were at shoot-around preparing for them not to play at all. They got here and warmed up and all three said they wanted to go. That really propelled us. That unity really meant a lot to all of our guys to see that those three were willing to give us whatever they had. I’m super-proud of how they showed up.:”We kept it together defensively,” Coach Chambers said. “We played the percentages. Some guys are going to hit shots you don’t expect them to make, but we did our best to limit some of their scorers and we had some success.”Jevin Muniz had a double-double with 15 points and a career-best 11 rebounds. Dallion Johnson led all Eagles in scoring with 16, with Rahmir Barno netting 14 and dishing out a career-high eight assists, one game after dishing out seven in a win.Attention now turns to the start of Atlantic Sun Conference play as the Eagles will open the 2025 portion of the schedule with the ASUN opener at the University of West Georgia. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. in Carrollton, Georgia.After the run, the Eagles would never lead by fewer than 10 the rest of the way. When Richmond (5-8) started building momentum with free-throws to make it 60-50, Barno had the response. The sophomore would score the next six points in a row to make it a 66-50 game and the Eagles would never be challenged again. Barno would finish with double-figure scoring for the sixth time in seven games after leading FGCU with 11 points in the second half.In a special moment late in the game with the score out of reach, Coach Chambers put in freshman BB Washington, who would be met on the court a few moments later by his brother George Washington III who plays for the Spiders. The two brothers guarded each other over the final 1:27 of the contest, but neither scored. Still, it was a moment of pride for the duo’s family in the stands.With the score even at 30-all, the Eagles (5-8) broke open the game by carrying over the momentum from the end of the first half to the start of the second. Johnson drained a 3-pointer to start the run with a dunk by Michael Duax and a Rory Stewart 3-pointer finishing off the scoring in the first half to give the Eagles a 38-30 lead heading to the locker room. Johnson would drain another 3-pointer to start the second half, and when Zavian McLean and Muniz made buckets, the Eagles had a 45-30 lead with just under two minutes gone in the period. Defense was just as much a part of the run as the offense for FGCU as the Eagles held Richmond without a field goal for almost 10 minutes.
