Florida Memorial Readies For ‘Battle of Miami Gardens’, Hosts STU Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (9-6, 5-3) vs. St. Thomas University Bobcats (7-7, 4-4)
When: Saturday, January 22, 2022
Where: Florida Memorial, Miami Gardens, Fla. | FMU Wellness Center
Tip-off: 4 p.m.* (30 minutes following women's game)
Last Meeting: Nov. 13, 2021, Win 93-89 (OT)
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link
Tickets: General Admission $5 (Purchase)

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Florida Memorial University will be looking to make it five consecutive wins over its neighborhood and Sun Conference rival St. Thomas University this weekend when it hosts the Bobcats Saturday afternoon in the FMU Wellness Center.

About The Lions (9-6, 5-3 TSC)

FMU enters the weekend well-rested and confident following its largest margin of victory win of the season back on January 13th, a 103-65 win over Webber International University.
The Lions have found a gem in the backcourt duo of Corey Benton and Eric Hester. Together, they're averaging over 32 points per game over the past three games.
Head coach Ansar Al-Ameen has also seen the quality of his depth in the frontcourt as Jacobi Gordon (6-foot-7) and Brent Holcombe (6-foot-9) have become fixtures in the starting lineup while 7-foot center Mubashar Ali continues to find his footing in a reserve role after missing significant time earlier this year and 6-foot-10 center Jethro Tshisumpa has missed the past few games with an undisclosed injury.
Benton leads the team – and is among the leaders in the Sun Conference – in scoring this season at 15.7 points per game.
The Lions defeated St. Thomas 93-89 in overtime on its home floor in the first meeting between the teams this season, a game that saw Benton turn in a season-high 29 points.
Florida Memorial is currently in the No. 3 spot in the Sun Conference standings – a half-game behind Warner University for second and a half-game ahead of Ave Maria University in fourth.

Scouting St. Thomas (7-7. 4-4 TSC)

St. Thomas University, like FMU, enters the weekend rested – as it hasn't played since its Jan. 15 win over Webber International.
Prior to their win over WIU, the Bobcats were losers of their previous two games – including a loss to University of Fort Lauderdale, a team Florida Memorial defeated earlier this season.
6-foot-8 senior Dwayne Russell leads STU in scoring this season, averaging 11.1 points per game and is the only Bobcats player averaging a double-digit point total.
St. Thomas head coach Patrick Crarey is in his first season leading the team after serving as the head coach at Washington Adventist University for 10 years.

Series History

The Lions trail in the all-time series against St. Thomas 5-10 but has won the previous four meetings.
Each of the past six matchups between the teams have been decided by four points or fewer and three of the games have gone into overtime. FMU is 2-1 in the overtime games in that span.

Keys To Victory

If the previous handful of meetings are an indicator, Saturday's game will likely be a close one that will require the Lions to be sharp in their late-game execution – a factor that has let the team down in previous losses.
The Lions will also need to defend without fouling. Two players fouled out of the first meeting and another was saddled with four fouls.

Follow Florida Memorial University Athletics on social media
Instagram: @GoFMULions/@FMU_MBB | Twitter: @GoFMULions | YouTube: Official FMU Lions

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