FGCU men release nonconference schedule, picked fifth in ASUN
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The FGCU men’s basketball team has released its nonconference schedule, and also was picked to finish fifth in the ASUN on Thursday.
The Eagles will open at home against Florida A&M on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
Home games at Alico Arena will also include FIU on Dec. 16, Webber International on Dec. 18, and Dec. 22 against Georgia Southern. An additional home game may be announced in the near future.
On the road, the Eagles will head to UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 27, Robert Morris on Dec. 2, and Miami on Dec. 12. The game at UC Santa Barbara will be part of the Gauchos’ Santa Barbara Slam round-robin tournament. As part of that, FGCU will host Florida A&M to open the year.
FGCU is 1-1 all-time versus UCSB with the teams last playing during the 2015 campaign in Santa Barbara. The meeting against ACC foe Miami will mark the first time since 2012 the two programs have met. The win for the Eagles that year at Alico Arena was the precursor for the 2013 run to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 with FGCU becoming the only No. 15 seed to accomplish the feat.
Following the non-conference schedule, FGCU will open ASUN play on Dec. 31 and Jan. 2 with a pair of home games against North Alabama. The league announced on Oct. 27 the adjustment to a single-site schedule model with teams hosting an opponent for two games in a week with a day off between.
FGCU also had two players make the preseason all-conference team — Southwest Florida Christian graduate Caleb Catto, a junior, and senior guard Jalen Warren.
“Caleb and Jalen are both very deserving to be recognized as two of the top returners in the conference,” FGCU coach Michael Fly said in a release. “They each had strong seasons last year and we are looking for them to continue that growth this year as leaders in our program.”
Catto, who was a unanimous selection, led the Eagles in scoring last season at 12.7 points per contest as he started all 32 games. During the year, he was one of the most improved players in the league as his scoring average increased by 8.6 points compared to his freshman year in 2018-19. He led the team with a career-high 62 3-pointers and ranked 10th overall in the league in scoring and among the top 10 of ASUN players in eight categories.
Warren was the second-leading scorer on the team at 10.9 points per game while recording 120 assists — the ninth-best for a single season in program history. In his first season with the Eagles, Warren had a overtime game-winning basket against FAU which was the No. 1 Play of the Day on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He had 20 points to lead the Eagles during their three overtime games.
Lipscomb was picked to win the league by both the coaches and media. Liberty was second in both polls, and Stetson was third, followed by North Florida, the Eagles, and Jacksonville. Conference newcomer Bellarmine was eighth, and Kennesaw State was ninth in the coaches poll, with those two switched in the media poll.
Lipscomb’s Ahsan Asadullah was the unanimous Preseason…
Read More: FGCU men release nonconference schedule, picked fifth in ASUN 2020-11-06 03:28:29