Lee Today

Florida Gulf Coast University recently issued the following announcement.

Kevin Samuel reaches 1,000 career points for his career, moves into fourth for single-season blocks.

 A tough shooting night proved too much to overcome as the FGCU men's basketball team fell 77-53 at Kennesaw State on Thursday evening at the KSU Convocation Center. The loss dropped the Eagles to 11-6 overall and 1-2 in ASUN play, while the Owls improved to 6-8 overall and 1-0 in league action.

The Green and Blue shot a season low 28.1 percent from the floor (16-of-57) and connected on just 6-of-27 from deep. The six made three pointers tied as the fewest in a game this season and were four fewer than the Eagles' had been averaging.

 "First, give credit to Kennesaw for how they played tonight. They were aggressive and kept us out of rhythm," said head coach Michael Fly. "We didn't play like ourselves at all tonight and that's disappointing. We have a very quick turnaround to address that as we get ready for Liberty on Saturday."

FGCU was led by 15 points from Tavian Dunn-Martin (Huntington, W.Va./Huntington HS/Akron/Duquesne) and nine points from Matt Halvorsen (Kingsport, Tenn./Christ School/Western Carolina) who had three of FGCU's six three pointers. Kevin Samuel [Codrington Village, Barbuda/Redemption HS (Texas)/TCU] reached 1,000 points for his career though was held to just five points overall in the game. The center led the Eagles on the glass with eight boards while blocking three shots. He now has 47 for the season to move into a tie with Eric McKnight (2012-13) for fourth on the single-season top-10 chart.

KSU had three players in double figures led by 15 from Terrell Burden. Chris Youngblood and Alex Peterson each had 10 points. Peterson also had a double-double with a game-high 10 boards.

The Owls shot 49 percent (31-of-63) for the game electing to find ways to score on the inside. KSU attempted just 12 shots from beyond the arc hitting seven.

After a slow start to the game which saw KSU build out a 10 point lead midway through the first half, the Eagles were able to trim the deficit to five, but ended up trailing 27-20 at halftime.

Six points for Dunn-Martin in the opening three minutes of the second half kept the Eagles within two possessions, but a three-point play followed by a jumper from Burden quickly extended KSU's advantage back to double figures, 36-26, at the 15:10 mark.

A 16-to-5 run by the Owls spanning nearly five minutes was the difference maker at the midpoint of the second stanza as KSU took a 54-35 lead.

A quick pair of triples from Dunn-Martin and Halvorsen gave the Eagles some lift late in the half. KSU answered with a 12-to-2 run to take its largest lead of the night, 71-45, with 2:53 remaining.

FGCU will return home after playing the last two games on the road to host Liberty on Saturday (7 PM) as part of a doubleheader with the 23rd-ranked women's team (4 PM). It will also be a special evening as FGCU recognizes the individual members of its inaugural Hall of Fame Class at halftime: Ben Hill Griffin III, Bill Merwin, Duane Swanson Sr., Chris Sale, and Brooke Youngquist Sweat. The game will also be the annual Laces of Love game with fans encouraged to bring shoes to donate to help area youth in need.

Original source can be found here.