The Basics

• Score: Florida Gulf Coast 79, Ohio 62

• Records: Ohio (1-1), Florida Gulf Coast (3-0)

• Location: Alico Arena - Fort Myers, Fla.

• The Short Story: Senior guard Javarez Willis (Homer, La.) and senior forward Maurice Ndour (Mbour, Senegal) keyed a furious second-half comeback charge by the Ohio men's basketball team (1-1), but Florida Gulf Coast (3-0) prevailed, 79-62, in front of a standing-room only crowd of 4,633 at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Fla.

How It Happened

• Making his first start of the 2014-15 season, Willis led the Bobcats with 17 points -- 14 of which came in the second half. He went 6-for-6 from the charity stripe and distributed a team-high three assists.

• Ndour also raised his game in the second, scoring 12 of his 16 points and hauling in five of his game-high nine rebounds over the final 20 minutes of play. He led the Bobcats with two steals and tied sophomore forward Wadly Mompremier for the team lead with two blocks.   

• The Eagles jumped out to a 25-point (45-20) halftime advantage, shooting 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field -- including 50 percent (5-of-10) from three-point range -- while holding the Bobcats to just 16.1% shooting (5-of-31) -- including 1-of-13 from beyond the arc. Senior guard Bernard Thompson tallied 18 of his game-high 34 points in the first half, knocking down eight of his 12 attempts.

• Ohio refused to go quietly, though, opening the second half with a 24-9 run to shave Florida Gulf Coast's advantage down to 10 at 54-44. Ndour keyed the rally by scoring eight points over first 9:05 while Willis added nine more -- including connecting on four straight freebies following a double technical foul on Florida Gulf Coast second-year head coach Joe Dooley and senior guard Brett Comer.

• That's as close as the Bobcats got, however, as the Eagles answered back with an 8-2 run to build their lead back up to 16 at 62-46 with 8:30 remaining. Ndour converted on four free throw attempts, and sophomore forward Antonio Campbell (Cincinnati, Ohio) converted both a layup and a three-point attempt to make it a 12-point contest at 67-55 with just over five minutes to go, but Ndour fouled out less than a minute later and the Eagles finished the contest on an 11-7 run.

• Thompson finished the game shooting 14-of-20 from the field. He led the Eagles with two steals. Redshirt senior guard Jamail Jones and redshirt sophomore forward Marc-Eddy Norelia each posted 11 points while Norelia led the Eagles with eight boards and Jones chipped in six more. Comer handed out a game-high 10 assists. Redshirt sophomore forward Demetris Morant led Florida Gulf Coast with a game-high three blocks and added nine points.

Beyond the Box Score

• Ndour just missed out on his second-straight double-double but reached double digits in points for the second this season and 27th time in his career.

• Willis recorded his first double-digit scoring effort of the season and 11th of his career. His success at the free-throw line marked a career best.

• Campbell just missed out on his second-straight game with double-digit points, tallying seven of his nine in the second half.

• The Bobcats will not play on the road again for a little less than a month, visiting Evansville on Dec. 18.

Up Next

• Ohio opens a four-game homestand next Tuesday (Nov. 25), taking on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a 7 p.m. ET tilt at the Convocation Center.