With 0.9 seconds left, sophomore guard Dylan Frye raised up for a three pointer dagger that fell, sending a charge through the Stroh Center. The Falcons topped the incoming Florida Gulf Coast Eagles by a score of 83-80 on Saturday night.
“There wasn’t any doubt that he was gonna shoot the ball,” Falcons head coach Michael Huger said. “But going out I said hey, five seconds is eternity, it’s a lot of time, take what they give you, and then we will go from there, and they gave him the three pointer, and he stopped and raised up at that three point line and it was good. Once I saw it leave his hands, I thought it was very good.”
The opposing Florida Gulf Coast came into the tilt on a 10 game winning streak on the road and was a NCAA tournament team last season.
Frye was the hero in this one for the Falcons, but he did not shoulder the load on his own. Freshman guard Justin Turner turned in a stat line of 20 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Frye had 15 points, six rebounds and two assists.
“We started to get stops,” Huger said. “The biggest thing was their transition. We would get bad shots on one end and they were going down or turning the ball over, and they were able to score in transition, so we wanted to get them more in a half court game, but I guess 80 points is not a half court game but we did a good job of containing them and trying to take away the drive. They are a very good team, and hats off to my guys for doing a good job of defending those ones.”
Junior forward Demajeo Wiggins put home 14 while grabbing seven boards, but it was his defense that got him noticed in this one for the Falcons.
“At halftime we talked about the seven (rebounds) we gave up at halftime, and Ricky Doyle did a good job of getting those rebounds and put backs and, you know, wanted to talk to the guys to focus, especially. Demajeo did a great job in the second half of containing him and limiting his touches on the low block, you know, just being a force down there offensively and defensively by Demajeo. Hats off to Demajeo.”
The Falcons next game is at the Stroh Center on Monday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. against Lake Erie College.
