FGCU Outmanned In 82-62 Loss To Wolfpack

Photo by Liam Jones

RALEIGH -- The Eagles saw their four game winning streak come to a screeching halt in Raleigh Tuesday night as NC State dominated the glass and the scoreboard, defeating FGCU 82-62.

"NC State was very aggressive, with the tempo in the beginning, and their ability to rebound the ball," said Joe Dooley.

Not helping the Florida Gulf Coast cause was Chase Fieler sitting on the bench. What has become a common theme already this season, "Golden Boy" got into early foul trouble and played only six minutes in the first half.

"Chase, as a senior, has to make sure he doesn't put himself in harms way and pick up cheap ones. He was disappointed but he'll learn from it," Dooley said.

Throughout the game, the Wolfpack outmanned FGCU on the boards and in transition; NC State owned the rebounding margin 43-25, scoring 17 second chance points off of 13 offensive rebounds. They also added 18 points in transition.

A silver lining for the Eagles was their free throw shooting; they converted 87% (20/23) of the time at the charity stripe.

Bernard Thompson, after sitting against Eckerd and Ave Maria, scored 14 points in his return for FGCU.

"Thompson's not back to 100% yet. He's working on it. Good to have him back out there, it helps our team's confidence...we need to get him completely healthy.

The Eagles return to the Fort to battle Iona on Sunday (Dec. 1) at 2 p.m. Dooley and company have a lot to improve on.

"We better fix our transition defense the way Iona runs the ball. I like what we have, we're going to get better. There are just some things we really need to tighten up on," Dooley said.

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