FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast used strong second-half performances from Marc-Eddy Norelia and Christian Terrell to rally for a 73-60 victory over North Dakota on Sunday. The Eagles (3-1) improved to 2-0 at their own Hilton Garden Inn Classic, while UND (2-2) falls to 1-1 in the three-game event that concludes on Monday.

Norelia had 12 of his game-high 18 points and Terrell added 10 of his 11 in a second half that saw the home team outscore UND 45-29 thanks primarily to the Eagles' 19-for-30 effort from the floor. Norelia also finished with his second double-double of the tournament after grabbing a game-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman Cortez Seales led the Fighting Hawks with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor and Quinton Hooker added 14, but UND could never recover after Terrell sparked a 7-0 run that saw his squad grab a 46-40 lead with just over 12 minutes play.

“To win a game of this magnitude on the road, we have to be able to convert when we have the opportunity and get some stops,” UND head coach Brian Jones said. “We missed several open looks at the rim and a lot of rhythm shots we normally knock down.

“When they were able to get up by four to six points early in the second half, we just could not get back into any rhythm at all after that.”

Neither team shot well from the floor in the first half as FGCU connected on 34.3 percent, while UND managed just a 33.3 percent clip, but the visitors were able to take a 31-28 advantage at the break.

Seales was 4-for-4 from the floor and led all scorers with eight points at the break and the area where UND was able to take advantage of FGCU in the first half was at the foul line.

The Fighting Hawks went 10-for-13, while the Eagles managed to go just 7-for-14.

FGCU opened the second half with a 5-0 run to retake the lead, then used a 7-0 run to build a 46-40 advantage with just over 12 minutes to play. The Eagles also erased their shooting woes with those 19 makes from the floor in the closing 20 minutes, while UND's continued.

The Fighting Hawks shot just 34.3 percent after the break and finished the game with a 33.8 percent clip.

Hooker finished with a team-high nine rebounds for the second-straight game with five of those coming on the offensive end. Norelia helped his squad hold a slight 42-39 edge overall on the glass.

After Geno Crandall hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to pull UND within six, Terrell made a driving layup and FGCU converted an alley-oop on its next possession to build its first double-digit lead of the game at 63-53 with 6:13 to play.

Any thoughts of a UND rally were squelched by a three-minute scoreless drought as FGCU pushed its lead to as much as 14 points late in the contest.

UND could never find a rhythm from beyond the arc in this one after going 10-for-21 in the win over Bowling Green the night before. The Fighting Hawks finished just 3-for-14 from deep, while the Eagles got hot in the second half making 4-of-9 attempts.

UND will close the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic with its first-ever meeting with Youngstown State on Monday afternoon. Tip-off against the Penguins (0-4) is slated for 3 p.m. CT.

-- UND --