AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (5-12, 2-6) vs. Keiser University Seahawks (15-3, 7-1)
When: January 18, 2020
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 4 p.m.* (30 minutes following the conclusion of women's game"
Last Meeting: Jan. 31, 2019, Loss 92-57
Live Stream Video & Stats: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/fmulions/index.htm
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – If "defense wins championships", then it must certainly win individual games.
Florida Memorial University's men's defensive prowess will be put to the test when it hosts the Sun Conference's leading scorer Mark Gordon and No. 14 Keiser University Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.
FMU (5-12, 2-6 Sun Conference) will also be looking to surpass its win total from a season ago with a victory on Saturday – a day in which Florida Memorial University will honor student-athletes who were named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll during a special ceremony at halftime.
The Lions will need to have five sets of eyes on Gordon Saturday. The 6-foot-5 guard averaging a conference-best 28.8 points per game this season. His lowest scoring output was a 20-point performance back in December. And Gordon earns his buckets the old-fashioned way, attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line – evident by his reaching the free throw line 10 or more times in half of Keiser's games this year.
Florida Memorial enters Saturday looking to snap a two-game losing snide. After falling to conference rival Johnson & Wales University this past Thursday, the Lions loss back-to-back games for the first time in the year 2020.
A bright spot for FMU has been the play of senior guard
Jordan Martin. Perhaps it's a bit of "senior urgency", Martin has elevated his play over the past five games. He's scored a total of 107 points in the past five outings, including a then-season-best 29 points against Coastal Georgia (on Jan. 11) only to surpass that by scoring 31 points against JWU (on Jan. 16).
Aside from Martin, who's knocked down at least one three-pointer in all but one game this season, second-year head coach
Ansar Al-Ameen has seen production fluctuate from the rest of his roster recently.
Junior guard
Quvondo Johnson has been the next most consistent Lion, as he's averaging 14 points per game over the past five games, but his overall shooting numbers have dipped.
Kaleb Darrett had a breakout game (35 points) against Thomas University a week-and-a-half ago, but hasn't shone as bright since – including being inactive for Thursday game at Johnson & Wales.
7-foot center
Mubashar Ali, who still leads the Sun Conference in rebounding, has scored six points or less in three of the past four games and has even since a decrease in rebounding production.
A victory for the Lions Saturday will mean that it slowed down Gordon enough or completely shut down the rest of the Seahawks roster while getting tangible contributions from players like Ali, Darrett, Johnson and solid play from senior
Omar Outar.
