FORT MYERS, Fla. - Closing out a four-game road stretch today, the West Georgia men's basketball team fell 90-72 to Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers, marking the third consecutive loss for the Pack.
After going back and forth in the opening 25 minutes of today's game, a handful of costly scoring droughts for UWG (9-8, 3-3 ASUN) allowed the Eagles (8-11, 2-4 ASUN) to run away with their first win in four contests.Â
"We just didn't make enough plays," said head coach Dave Moore. "We didn't have enough guys play well. We shoot 31 percent in that second half to their 59, you know, and that's not going to work. I don't know that the score is indicative of how close the game was. Four minutes to go, it's a four-point game, but we let it get sloppy at the end. And to their credit, they played well, they made their foul shots. They got the line 36 times, and ultimately, that's the difference in the game."
The Pack was led by forward Shelton Williams-Dryden with 28 points and six rebounds while shooting 53 percent (10-19) from the field, 38 percent (3-8) from three and 56 percent (5-9) from the line. The Eagles were led by guard Rahmir Barno with 19 points on 59 percent (7-12) field goal shooting and 71 percent (5-7) shooting from the line.Â
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Similar to the last two contests, UWG opened today's ASUN action cold from the field. Luckily for the Pack, the Eagles also jump-started the game shooting a cold 1-for-5 (20 percent) from the field, resulting in the matchup being tied at 5-5 at the first media timeout.
Fueled by eight points from inside the paint, UWG stayed on the Eagles' tails. At the 12-minute media timeout, the Wolves trailed 13-11.Â
UWG took its first lead of the day, up 21-20, after Matija Žužic and Malcolm Noel hit back-to-back threes out of the break.
With JaVar Daniel tearing up the Eagles' defense from down low, West Georgia extended its advantage to 25-20 with under seven minutes left in the half.
It wasn't just Daniel finding success from inside the paint, but the whole Pack. Like a QB looking for an open receiver, different UWG players would take turns bringing the ball to the top of the arc to look for cutting Wolves under the basket. This style of attack led to the Pack's lead ballooning to 34-25 by the final media break of the opening half.Â
Following the offensive tear, a two-minute West Georgia cold spell allowed the Eagles to storm back. At the break, UWG held a tight 38-37 lead with Daniel's eight points pushing the pace for the Pack. Notably, 22 of the Wolves' 38 points (58 percent) came from the paint this half.
Fueled by a pair of threes, FGCU opened the second period jumping out to a 45-44 lead.Â
With the Wolves going on a three-minute scoring drought, Florida Gulf Coast extended its lead to 54-48 with under 14 minutes remaining in the game.Â
Without knocking down a field goal for five minutes, the Eagles' lead ballooned to 61-51 by the 12-minute media timeout.Â
Thanks to an FGCU foul that brought the Wolves to the charity stripe and an Eagles' turnover that turned into UWG points, the Pack began slowly cutting into the hosts' lead. With under seven minutes left, UWG trailed just 73-66.Â
Despite the Wolves dashing the hosts' lead down to 75-71 with five minutes left, another costly cold spell allowed FGCU to run away with a double-digit win. Notably, the Pack finished the game on a five-minute field goal drought.Â
The Wolves return home to host Central Arkansas this Thursday (Jan. 22) at 7 p.m. in The Coliseum.Â
"They (UCA) got a lot of shot makers," stated Moore about the upcoming matchup. "They run discipline offense. They're a very good shooting team. They mix it up defensively. They run a lot of different defensive looks at you. There's a lot to get ready for when you're playing Central Arkansas and Coach Shulman. We've got to get back to work on Monday."
With the 2025-26 already more than halfway through, don't miss your chance to see the Pack in action. Purchase your tickets for Thursday's matchup here.Â
NOTABLE NUMBERS
-Josh Smith has yet to commit a turnover in conference play.
-FGCU now leads the series 4-1.
-UWG closes out the four-game road stretch 1-3, bringing the season record to 9-8 overall and 3-3 in the conference.Â
-For the first time in conference play, UWG was outrebounded, 40-28.Â
-UWG finished the day shooting 41 percent from the field, 31 percent from three and 58 percent from the line. FGCU shot 57 percent from the field, 54 percent from three and 75 percent from the line
