FT. MYERS, Fla. – Ike Smith tallied 16 points and seven rebounds, and Georgia Southern held Florida Gulf Coast to under 40 percent shooting from the field to post a 72-59 non-conference men's basketball win over the Eagles Tuesday night in Alico Arena.

Tookie Brown recorded 15 points, three assists, four rebounds and three steals, and Mike Hughes collected 12 points, four rebounds and four assists for Georgia Southern (5-5). B.J. Gladden added nine points, two assists and three steals.

Brandon Goodwin led Florida Gulf Coast (7-4) with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists, and Demetris Morant registered 11 points, a career-high 17 rebounds and three blocked shots. Zach Johnson scored 13, and Christian Terrell finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

It was only FGCU's fifth loss in its last 27 home games.

The story
Georgia Southern held FGCU, which came into the game shooting over 52 percent from the field, to 39 percent for the game and 35 percent in the second half. FGCU made just 4 of 24 from 3-point range, and Georgia Southern had a season-high 12 steals.

Georgia Southern broke a 17-17 tie with a 12-4 run over a 7:30 stretch in the first half and opened a 29-21 lead on a free throw by Devonte Boykins with 1:27 left in the half. Smith hit a 3-pointer with six seconds left on the Eagles' last possession of the period, and GS led 34-25 at the break.

GS held FGCU to one of its first nine from the field to start the second half and outscored the Eagles 10-2 over the first five minutes of the frame, and a triple from the wing by Gladden made the score 44-27. Florida Gulf Coast never managed to work the margin inside double digits, and another 3-pointer by Gladden, this time from 30-feet out with the shot clock buzzer going off, made the score 63-44 with six minutes to play.

A pair of free throws by Rajon Tucker trimmed the margin to 12 points late in the contest, but the GS shot 7 of 10 from the charity stripe inside the last two minutes, and Smith threw down a monster dunk after beating the press to hold off FGCU.

Quotables 
Head coach Mark Byington
"I'm really proud of the guys. They responded to the hard film sessions and the hard practices. This time a couple days ago, I talked about how we felt embarrassed, but I also mentioned how much pride they have. They knew they had more inside of them, and I knew they had more inside of them. The way they responded and how hard they competed tonight - they played great tonight and they deserved to win."

"I have some exhausted guys in the locker room, and I told them that's how it's supposed to feel. When you leave it all on the floor, you're supposed to walk off like that. If something would have happened and we wouldn't have won the game, I still would have been proud of the guys for the way they competed tonight."

"We had to understand the value of playing defense and playing hard. We have some guys who can score, some talented offensive players, but tonight shows you we have some guys who when they dig their feet in and commit to playing defense, they can do that too. It's a good recipe. Some things weren't pretty tonight, but at the same time, this is going to be the recipe for us, hopefully, the rest of the season - committing to defense and playing hard."

On winning in a tough road environment
"If you're going to win a Sun Belt Championship in the regular season, you're going to have to. You're going to have to go in tough places and tough environments, and it seems like we keep doing that. I think our team is getting tighter and more together and being on the road helps that. We had great energy from the bench, and anybody we put in tonight really brought great effort and were ready to play."

Junior forward B.J. Gladden on the 30-foot 3-pointer
"I saw on the shot clock that there were only three or four seconds left, and I had hit two previously. Coach says if you have an open shot, shoot it with confidence. I did that, and it went in."

Next up
Georgia Southern continues its four-game road trip in Miami as the Eagles take on FIU Thursday at 7 p.m.

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