FGCU’s Cinderella Run Ends Vs Florida

30 Mar, 2013

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — That high-flying act from “Dunk City” busted most everybody’s NCAA tournament brackets and left an indelible mark on March.

Bet you know what FGCU is now.

Florida Gulf Coast, the No. 15 seed few people knew much about only a week ago, had its improbable run to the NCAA round of 16 ended by a 62-50 loss late Friday night – actually only a few minutes before midnight. SEC regular-season champion Florida is headed to its third consecutive regional final.

“We definitely defied a lot of odds,” said Sherwood Brown, the dreadlocked guard who is Gulf Coast’s only senior starter. “Pretty much no one in the nation expected us to make it this far.”

Early against Florida, the Eagles (26-11) seemed even looser than they had in their victories over No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State. And they had a big run that came early this time.

Chase Fieler had 3-pointers to start and cap an 11-0 run, raising his hands in the air after the second that put Gulf Coast ahead 15-4 and led to a timeout by Florida coach Billy Donovan less than 7 minutes into the game.

But the Gators (29-7) still had plenty of time – and know how to go on big runs of their own. The Eagles had 12 turnovers in the first half – one less than they had in each of their first two NCAA tourney games – and finished with 20.

Michael Frazier made a pair of 3-pointers from in front of the FGCU bench, the only baskets he made, to start a 16-0 run late in the first half.

That put the Gators in the lead to stay.

The Gators will play Michigan in the South Regional final on that raised court at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. They are trying to get to their first NCAA Final Four since consecutive national championships in 2006 and 2007.

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