FGCU men run record to 5-0

Not if junior guard Ryan Hopkins has anything to say about it.

The Eagles needed a late 3-pointer from Hopkins and a miss by Bayamon's Omar Rivera at the buzzer to preserve a tense 84-82 victory Wednesday night at Alico Arena.

FGCU (5-0) remained unbeaten on the season, but it wasn't easy against the Cowboys (0-2), who beat the Eagles in the first game in FGCU history last season.

"I'd rather play Florida Southern every game instead of these guys," said Hopkins, who led FGCU with 20 points. "After the game I thought we lost. It felt like we lost."

And for awhile it looked like they might after the Cowboys took a 79-78 lead with 1 minute, 24 seconds to play on a free throw by Victor Rodriguez.

FGCU called time-out, and on the inbounds play Hopkins ran off a screen and drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Eagles back on top, 81-79.

"We got Hop a clean look, he's been shooting pretty good," said FGCU head coach Dave Balza. "If he misses it, we had three of our better rebounders (Roman Brown, Leighton Bowie and Brett Fritz) in there."

The Cowboys turned the ball over on their next possession, and Bowie (10 points, five rebounds) hit a pair of free throws to push the FGCU lead to four.

Bayamon's Luis Brignoni (22 points) was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 2.8 seconds to go. Brignoni made all three free throws, and Bowie again went to the line.

Bowie made 1-of-2, and Bayamon threw a length-of-the court pass to Rivera, who caught the ball at the 3-point line, drove to the post and head-faked Brown. Rivera's fadeaway, however, fell short at the buzzer and the Eagles survived.

"We couldn't get into a flow," Balza said. "We wanted to hammer them inside. We had 40 shots in the paint, but we weren't making our shots."

The game followed a similar pattern. The Eagles would get a little spurt to take a 5- to 7- point lead, only to have the Cowboys hit a couple of shots to get back in the game, using their speed to beat the Eagles off the dribble and create open shots.

"We couldn't guard them," Balza said. "We tried full-court and then we had to go to half-court and we didn't guard them much better."

FGCU held a decided height advantage at every position, but was unable to take advantage through a combination of poor shooting and sloppy ballhandling. The Eagles turned the ball over 22 times, mostly in the post when the Cowboys would slap it out of their hands as they tried to put it on the floor.

The Eagles held a 46-25 advantage on the boards, and they needed every one of them. Brown (17 points, 11 rebounds) was dominant at times, but had trouble putting in the junk he'd grab around the basket.

"I'm happy with the win," Balza said. "I'm not happy with the mistakes we made, but I'm happy with the win. (Bayamon) won 21 games last year for a reason."

The Eagles spent the first half trying to bully the Cowboys around. With at least a seven-inch height advantage in the frontcourt, FGCU tried to pound it inside to Bowie, Brown and Robinson Tisme.

The trio had no trouble establishing position in the paint. Making the shots, however, was another matter, as the Eagles shot 40 percent from the floor in the first half.

FGCU managed to open a 41-34 lead, but a pair of 3-pointers pulled Bayamon back into the game, and the two teams headed to the locker room tied at 44.

FGCU is off until Dec. 4, when the Eagles host Florida Tech at 7:30.

FGCU 84, PUERTO RICO-BAYAMON 82

Puerto Rico Bayamon (0-2)

V. Rodriguez 5-10 1-2 14, J. Rivera 2-5 5-5 9, Vega 3-6 2-2 8, Gonzalez 2-9 4-4 9, Rivera 4-11 0-0 9, Figuero 1-2 0-0 0, Brignoni 5-14 9-13 22, Vergerano 2-3 1-2 6, Rolon 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 25-64 22-28 82.

FGCU (5-0)

Cedeno 1-5 2-2 4, Brown 5-11 7-10 17, Crislip 1-5 2-2 5, Fritz 4-6 2-2 10, Hopkins 6-11 2-2 20, Pean 1-2 0-0 2, Tisme 6-14 2-3 14, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, Bowie 3-7 4-6 10, Wilson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-64 21-27 84. Halftime--FGCU 44, Puerto Rico-Bayamon 44. 3-point goals- Puerto Rico-Bayamon 10-31 (Brignoni 3-8, V. Rodriguez 3-8, Gonzalez 1-5, Rivera 1-5, Rolon 1-3, Vergerano 1-2), FGCU 7-15 (Hopkins 6-11, Crislip 1-4). Fouled out- Vega (Bayamon), J. Rivera (Bayamon), Rodriguez (Bayamon). Rebounds- Puerto Rico Bayamon 25 (Rivera 6), FGCU 46 (Brown 11). Assists- Puerto Rico Bayamon 16 (Rivera 9), FGCU 16 (Crislip 9). Total fouls- Puerto Rico Bayamon 25, FGCU 22.