Philadelphia, PA

Florida Gulf Coast University became the latest Cinderella of the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament. In a stunning second round upset, No. 15 Florida Gulf Coast upset No. 2 Georgetown, 78-68. It is the seventh time in NCAA history that a 15th seed has beaten a 2 seed.

In just their sixth year as an NCAA Division I program and second year of tournament eligibility, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles built on their 24-22 halftime lead with a 21-to-2 run in the second half. The Eagles' 54-point offensive display in the second half stunned the Hoyas Georgetown finally responded with a rally of their own to cut the Eagles lead to four with 53 seconds remaining in the game. However, confidence and clutch foul-shooting by the Eagles allowed them to advance to the next round

Sherwood Brown (24 points) and Bernard Thompson (23 points) led the Eagles in scoring. Markel Starks led Georgetown with 23 points, while Big East player of the year Otto Porter Jr. could only muster 13 points making only 5 of 17 shots from the field.

Florida Gulf Coast upsets Georgetown

The Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles pulled away in the second half and doused a late rally to upset Georgetown Hoyas 78-68 in the second round of the South Regional.

Sherwood Brown had 24 points and Bernard Thompson added 23 points for FGCU (25-10), the champions of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

The Hoyas used an 8-0 run to take an 18-11 lead midway through the first half before their offense went cold. It missed nine straight shots and committed five turnovers as the Eagles closed the half on a 13-4 run.

A monster run gave the Eagles its biggest lead at 52-33 lead with 12:28 to play. The Hoyas staged a furious rally to get within 72-68 with 52 seconds left but the Eagles went 6 of 10 from the free throw line to seal it.

Georgetown, a tri-champion of the Big East regular season and one of the top defensive teams in the nation, came in allowing 55.7 points per game.

But FGCU surpassed that number with 9:22 to play when it led 57-40. The Eagles' shooting percentage of 42.9 percent (21 of 49) also beat the 37.6 percent average allowed to Hoyas' opponents.

Markel Starks had 23 points for the Hoyas, Big East Player of the Year Otto Porter Jr. had 13 points on 5-of-17 shooting and 11 rebounds.

It was another disappointing NCAA exit for the Hoyas (25-7), who have lost to a double-digit seed in their last four appearances. The last time they made it to the second weekend of the tournament was in 2007, when they reached the Final Four.

The Eagles became just the seventh No. 15 seed to beat a No. 2.

This is FGCU's first tournament and Georgetown's 29th, including the 1984 national championship. FGCU is so new it wasn't eligible for the NCAA tournament until last year. It will play seventh-seeded San Diego State, which beat No. 10 seed Oklahoma 70-55, in the third round on Sunday.

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Florida Gulf Coast Shocks Georgetown