FGCU can't grab a victory in Hilton Garden Inn Classic

The Florida Gulf Coast University men's basketball team lost all three games after Thanksgiving in their own tournament, the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic.

This is the second year in a row that the Eagles have lost three games in three days. In the Gulf Coast Showcase last year, FGCU lost to Toledo, Colorado State, and UTSA. 

On Sunday, Georgia Southern found its stride and outscored the Eagles 42-22 in the second half en route to a 72-57 victory. 

"This is a familar story at this point," FGCU head coach Michael Fly said. "We were the most aggressive team in the first half, up double figures in the first half, and we had the most energy in the first half. They made a little bit of a run in the second half and counterpunched us and I thought it sent our guys for a loop."

Friday's game against North Dakota featured the two squads going back and forth. At one point,  FGCU held a 15 point lead and led 34-31 at the half. North Dakota responded in the second half and scored 47 points, which turned into a 78-63 win for the Fighting Hawks. North Dakota led by as much as 19 points.

On Saturday, the Eagles lost a close one to Campbell, 51-46.

Overall, it was not a good three game stretch by any means for FGCU. In the three game tournament, the Eagles shot just 32.5% (54-for-166) from the field — including a season worst 21.8% (12-for-52) against Campbell in the second game Saturday evening.

FGCU junior Sam Gagliardi had 12 points at the half, and finished the night with 13. The sharpshooter from Gig Harbor, Wash. made four all four of his shots from beyond the arc in the first half, and went 0-for-2 shooting in the second half.

"(Georgia Southern) did a good job (of taking Sam away)," Fly added. "We tried to run some actions for him in the first couple of plays in the second half to get him shots. That's something we try to do when somebody's going. They switched everything and took him out of it."

"When you're turning the ball over, it's tough to get good looks."

Turnovers didn't help FGCU either. In the three-game span, FGCU turned the ball over 54 times, compared to forcing 43 turnovers. 

The Eagles (2-8) are set to cross Alligator Alley to take on Florida International (5-3) on Wednesday night. Fly said he and his team will look to get back in the win column after dropping three in a row at home.

"We're going to take Monday off and rest our bodies," Fly stated. "We're going to try and refresh mentally. We'll review some things that we can do better as a team and work on us, and then move on to FIU. We played VCU in part to prep for FIU, because coach (Jeremy) Ballard comes from the VCU system, and they play very similar. We wanted to make sure we see that type of pressure before so we know how to handle that, hopefully."

Despite the 2-8 record to start the season, Fly will look to keep his team motivated and to not lose hope as the season goes on.

"I told our guys this morning, Fairfield was 1-6 when they woke up today," Fly said. "They beat Texas A&M. On any given day no matter what your record is, if you come to play, you can beat anybody."

Follow News-Press Sports Writer Alex Martin on Twitter: @NP_AlexMartin. For additional coverage across Southwest Florida including FGCU, FSW, and high school sports, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.