FGCU Basketball: Eagles win tourney, 76-74

Saturday night in the Hillmyer-Tremont Tip-Off Tournament final against Lynn University at Alico Arena, the Florida Gulf Coast University junior guard dialed home a winner for the Eagles.

Hopkins hit a 3-pointer to give the Eagles the lead with five minutes to play, and FGCU made its free throws down the stretch to win 76-74.

FGCU (4-0) remained unbeaten at Alico Arena, but had to work much harder than it did Friday night when the Eagles soared past Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras by 38.

Lynn (2-2) controlled the tempo throughout, reining in an FGCU attack that came into the game averaging 102.3 points per contest.

The Eagles, however, endured behind solid interior defense that slowed down Lynn forward James Wingard. Wingard, who torched Ashland for 29 points Friday night, would tally only 12 Saturday, as he was bothered by a right toe injury as well as FGCU's Roman Brown and Robinson Tisme, who took turns battling the 260-pound Wingard in the post.

The Knights led for most of the game's first 35 minutes, but Hopkins hit a 3-pointer from 25-feet to fuel a 9-2 FGCU run that gave the Eagles a 69-63 lead.

Lynn continued to fight, eventually cutting the lead to one on two free throws by Durbin with 16 seconds to play. The Knights fouled Bryan Crislip, who made both free throws to push the lead to three.

Seconds after appearing to seal the game, Crislip then fouled Lynn's Akil Lewis with six-tenths of a second to play as Lewis tried to get off a 3-point attempt.

Thankfully for Crislip and the Eagles, Lewis missed his first attempt. He made the second, but intentionally missed the third.

FGCU's Leighton Bowie skied for the rebound and fell to the ground with the ball in his hands as the buzzer sounded.

Bowie led the Eagles with 20 points and 10 rebounds and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

"He was tremendous," said FGCU head coach Dave Balza of Bowie. "To be off two weeks, or a year and two weeks and do what he did was really impressive.

Hopkins added 12 points while Crislip had 11 points to go with eight assists. Lewis led Lynn with 23 points while Cedric Bennett added 15.

FGCU outrebounded Lynn 42-23 and committed just three turnovers in the second half.

"They had us scouted very well," Balza said. "They gave us fits. They didn't let us run our normal stuff. I give our guards a lot of credit, they did a good job of adjusting."

The Eagles dared Lynn to keep up in the first half, and the Knights were more than equal to the challenge.

Lynn survived the early frantic pace -- the teams combined for 20 points in the first two minutes -- and when the game slowed down, Lynn used the outside shooting of Lewis and Lindsay Critten to spread out the FGCU defense, giving Wingard room inside.

The Eagles stayed close thanks to some solid team rebounding, grabbing 10 offensive boards in the first half to offset 39 percent shooting from the field and 10 turnovers.FGCU hosts Puerto Rico-Bayamon Tuesday night at 7:30.

Ashland (Ohio) 118, Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras 94

Ashland couldn't quite break FGCU's one-day old Alico Arena scoring record, but the Eagles certainly gave it a shot in the Hillmyer-Tremont Tip-Off tournament consolation game.

One day after the Eagles put up a school and arena record 119 points on Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras, Ashland's pursuit of 120 points served as the only drama in a game that was a rout from the opening tip.

Alex Jones led six Ashland players in double figures with 20 points and nine assists. Justin Brown chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds as Ashland (1-2) picked up its first win of the year.

Isreal Pizarro scored a game-high 29 points for Rio Piedras (2-4), which lost its second straight in large part because of its poor transition defense.

Ashland shot 60 percent from the field, including 53 percent from 3-point range.

FGCU 76

LYNN UNIVERSITY 74

LYNN (2-2)

Bennett 3-7 8-10 15, Wingard 2-6 8-10 12, Lewis 7-16 6-8 23, Critten 2-5 0-0 6, Taylor 5-11 3-5 13, Faber 0-1 0-0 0, White 1-2 0-0 3, Kennerly 1-2 0-0 2, Popp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-50 25-33 74.

FGCU (4-0)

B. Fritz 3-6 0-0 6, Cedeno 2-3 1-2 5, Brown 4-7 2-3 10, Crislip 3-11 4-4 11, Hopkins 4-13 1-2 12, Pean 0-2 0-2 0, Tisme 4-8 2-2 10, Parker 1-2 0-0 2, Bowie 4-14 12-13 20, Wilson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-66 22-28 76.

Halftime-Lynn 36, FGCU 30. 3-point goals- Lynn 7-20, FGCU 4-15. Fouled out- Kennerly (Lynn). Rebounds- Lynn 23 (Wingard 8), FGCU 42 (Bowie 10). Assists-Lynn 8 (Taylor 3), FGCU 16 (Crislip).

Total fouls- Lynn 20, FGCU 23.

ASHLAND 118

PUERTO RICO RIO PIEDRAS 94

PUERTO RICO-RIO PIEDRAS (2-4)

A. Rivera 2-6 1-3 5, R. Rivera 0-3 4-8 4, Ruiz 0-1 0-0 0, Cidre 3-4 1-3 7, Pizarro 7-14 10-11 29, Guzman 7-9 1-1 15, Diaz 0-2 0-0 0, Ortiz 4-7 5-7 13, Gonzalez 0-4 0-0 0, Morals 2-2- 0-0 4, Lopez 5-10 3-5 17. Totals 30-62 25-38 94.

ASHLAND (1-2)

Emmons 7-9 0-0 16, Brown 5-5 5-9 15, Fowler 5-8 2-2 13, Newell 7-11 2-4 18, Knight 4-10 1-1 10, Lee 3-6 0-0 6, Jones 6-12 5-6 20, Roberson 2-4 2-2 7, Church 3-4 1-1 7, Engler 1-1 2-2 4, Mayes 0-2 2-5 2. Totals 43-72 22-34 118.

Halftime- Ashland 58, Rio Piedras 31. 3-point goals- Rio Piedras 9-20 (Pizarro 5-9, Lopez 4-5, Cidre 0-1, Cidre 0-1, Guzman 0-1, Ortiz 0-1, Gonzalez 0-1). Ashland 10-19 (Jones 3-6, Emmons 2-4, Newell 2-3, Knight 1-4, Fowler 1-1, Roberson 1-1). Fouled out- R. Rivera (Rio Piedras), Guzman (Rio Piedras). Rebounds-Rio Piedras 32 (R. Rivera, A. Rivera 5), Ashland 43 (Brown 8) . Assists-Rio Piedras 12 (Guzman 4), Ashland 26 (Jones 9).

Total fouls- Rio Piedras 32, Lynn 26.

LATE FRIDAY

FGCU 119

PUERTO RICO-RIO PIEDRAS 81

PUERTO RICO-RIO PIEDRAS (2-3)

A. Rivera 3-5 0-0 7, Ruiz 2-3 0-0 4, Guzman 6-12 4-4 18, Cidre 2-5 2-3 7, Pizarro 2-9 0-0 6, Diaz 0-2 0-0 0, Ortiz 1-4 0-0 3, Gonzalez 4-8 4-4 13, Morals 2-3 0-0 5, Rivera 3-6 0-3 6, Lopez 4-9 2-2 12, N. Rivera 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-67 12-16 81.

FGCU (3-0)

B. Fritz 3-4 2-2 8, Cedeno 3-3 0-0 6, Brown 3-4 4-5 10, Crislip 4-5 2-2 13, Hopkins 8-17 0-0 21, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Pean 2-5 1-2 5, Tismme 5-8 2-6 12, Parker 1-4 1-1 3, T. Fritz 1-1 0-0 3, Kollmer 2-3 1-2 6, Bowie 6-13 9-11 21, Wilson 3-7 2-4 9, Durosca 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 42-76 24-35 119.

Halftime-FGCU 66, Rio Piedras 38. 3-point goals- Rio Piedras 11-29 (Pizarro 2-6, Guzman 2-5, Rivera 1-2, Cidre 1-3, Ortiz 1-3, Gonzalez 1-1, Morals 1-1, Diaz 0-2), FGCU 11-24 (Hopkins 5-13, Crislip 3-3, Wilson 1-3, Kollmer 1-1, T. Fritz 1-1). Fouled out- Morals (Rio-Piedras). Rebounds-Rio Piedras 22 (Gonzalez 5), FGCU 46 (Crislip, Hopkins 6). Assists-Rio Piedras 4 (A. Rivera, Diaz, Gonzalez, N.

Rivera 1), FGCU 20 (Crislip 6). Total fouls- Rio Piedras 28, FGCU 21.