Fort Myers, FL- FGCU (10-20, 7-8) faces UNA (12-16, 7-8) in a pivotal matchup to determine who faces #3 Stetson or #4 Lipscomb on the road Tuesday in the ASUN quarterfinals of the ASUN tournament.
Overview:
UNA beat FGCU 70-65 on 1/18 at Flowers Hall in Florence. It was a huge loss for the Eagles and obviously had an impact with both these teams at 7-8 headed into Saturday’s matchup.
Coach Tony Pujol has such a young core when it comes to this roster with Jamari Blackmon and Christian Agnew, the top 2 scorers on the team, and they are only Sophomores. Jamari was ASUN Freshman of the Year last season and continues to be on a tear for UNA this season. The tandem combines for almost 25 points per game and are one of the best guard combinations in the ASUN when it comes to underclassmen.
Stats:
UNA averages 68.3 points per game. The Lions shoot 42% from the field, 33.7% from beyond the arc, and average 36.2 team rebounds per game. The Lions dish out 11.0 assists per game and on the defensive end of the ball average 6.4 steals and 2.4 blocks per game. UNA averages 14.8 team turnovers per game.
Players To Watch For:
6’2 SO G Christian Agnew 13.0 ppg
6’1 SO G Jamari Blackmon 11.7 ppg
6’7 FR F Mervin James 9.6 ppg
Possible Starting Lineup (UNA):
G-Christian Agnew
G-Jamari Blackmon
G-C.J. Brim
F-Emanuel Littles
F-Mervin James
Possible Starting Lineup (FGCU):
G-Caleb Catto
G-Jalen Warren
G-Zach Scott
G-Cyrus Largie
C-Justus Rainwater
Analysis:
The Eagles have split with Lipscomb and Stetson this year respectfully. The Hatters are on a slide of late losing 3 games in a row heading into Saturday. If the Eagles win and Lipscomb loses to Liberty, the highest seed the Eagles can be is the #5 seed since they lose the tiebreaker to Lipscomb, when it comes to NET rankings. As a 5 seed, the Eagles would travel to Allen Arena for a Tuesday night ASUN quarterfinals matchup.
If the Eagles lose to UNA, they would be the #6 seed and travel to Deland to face #3 Stetson University. The Eagles won in Deland earlier this season and Stetson hasn’t hosted a home ASUN tournament game in 24 years so there’s some intrigue there.
Either way the Eagles are on the road and you pick your poison with both teams. If you play Lipscomb you have to deal with Asadullah, and Buckland. If you face Stetson, you deal with Rob Perry, Mahamadou Diawara and the young core of players under Coach Donnie Jones that have had a strong season. We hope to see you at Alico Arena, Saturday afternoon, to determine where the Eagles will begin the ASUN tournament!
Eagles Nest Cast 