MIAMI (Dec. 22, 2011) - Despite leading for a majority of the contest, the FIU men's basketball team dropped a 61-53 decision to the Bowling Green Falcons (6-5) at the U.S. Century Bank Arena on Thursday night.

Senior Jeremy Allen led the scoring for the Panthers (3-9) with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting, followed by 11 points from junior Cameron Bell. Bell grabbed a team-high eight boards on the night, tying his career best for rebounds (8 vs. Troy - 2/26/11). Chipping in with a career-high 10 points was junior Brandon Moore who also contributed with four rebounds.

FIU opened the game with a jumper by Allen and held the lead for the entire first half. The biggest lead of the contest for the Panthers came with 5:15 remaining in the period when Allen slammed a dunk off a steal from sophomore Phil Taylor to make it 25-15. FIU went into the locker room at halftime with a 29-25 advantage and shot 50 percent from the field (12-of-24).

Bowling Green battled back in the second half, shooting a robust 58.3 percent (14-of-24) from the field and took its first lead with 10:30 remaining at 39-38. The lead exchanged hands several times before the Falcons grabbed it for good with 7:19 left to play.

For the game, FIU shot 40.4 percent as Bowling Green narrowly edged that mark with a 42.9 clip. The game also had its share of turnovers as FIU committed 18 to Bowling Green's 16. The 18 FIU turnovers resulted in 12 points for the Falcons.

Scott Thomas led the way for the Falcons with 18 points, followed by 15 from Jordon Crawford.

The loss gives FIU its third-straight heading into conference play, beginning on Dec. 29 on the road at Middle Tennessee. Game time is 8:00 p.m. ET.

Game Notes:

• Jeremy Allen and Dominique Ferguson started in their 32nd consecutive game, which is good for the longest active streak for the Panthers.
• Jeremy Allen continued his free throws made streak, hitting his only two chances to run his streak to 13.
• Jeremy Allen also continued his streak of consecutive games with at least one steal, running it to 18 games after recording a first-half swipe.
• The Panthers led for the entire first half as Jeremy Allen got the scoring started with a jumper 23 seconds into the contest.
• Gilles Dierickx registered a career-best six rebounds in the first half.
• Cameron Bell tied a career mark in rebounds with a team-high eight.
• Brandon Moore set a new career-high in points with 10, going 5-of-10 from the field.
• FIU led for the first 29:09 of the game, relinquishing the lead for the first time with 10:28 left in the second half.
• Jeremy Allen hit a three-pointer with 2:59 left in the contest to extend FIU's consecutive games with a three-point basket to 96 games.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU is worlds ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission and enrolls 46,000 students in two campus and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. More than 140,000 alumni live and work in South Florida. FIU is a member of the Sun Belt Conference and has 400 student-athletes participating in 17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visit www.fiu.edu.

About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 17 different sports, and is a proud member of the Sun Belt Conference and an affiliate member of Conference USA (men's soccer). Athletic events are played in seven different venues on FIU's campuses (Modesto A. Maidique and Biscayne Bay), including U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.