MIAMI (Dec. 3, 2011) -- The FIU men's basketball team (2-5) suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to the Alabama State Hornets (1-5), 60-57, on Saturday, Dec. 3, at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Despite leading by eight points after the first half, the Panthers were out-scored 39-28 in the second stanza to drop their fifth contest of the season.

For the game, FIU committed 19 turnovers, resulting in 20 points for the Hornets. The Panthers shot 45.7 percent (21-of-46) from the floor and were just 1-of-9 from beyond the arc (11.1 percent). Senior DeJuan Wright poured in a career-high 26 points on 10-of-12 shooting and grabbed five boards on the night, while sophomore Dominique Ferguson registered a game-high 11 rebounds and notched eight points on 3-of-7 shooting.

Senior Jeremy Allen tried to sink his second buzzer-beating shot in the last three games, however, a 3-point heave as time expired failed to fall, as FIU lost by a three-point margin. Allen registered eight points versus the Hornets in 37 minutes of action.

ASU converted 41.2 percent of its shots on the night, including 14-of-25 (56.0 percent) during the second half. The Hornets drained eight 3-pointers, shooting 40.0 percent from downtown. Kenderek Washington notched a career-high 19 points for the Hornets, converting 4-of-8 shots from 3-point range.

FIU will next travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, to face Texas Wesleyan in the E-Tech Lumberjack Classic on Saturday, Dec. 10. Game time is 3:00 p.m.

Game Notes

- With tonight's loss, FIU falls to 2-5 on the season while Alabama State improves to 1-5. The Panthers are now 1-1 at U.S. Century Bank Arena for the campaign.

- Senior DeJuan Wright went a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor before missing his first shot of the contest with 45 seconds remaining in the first half. Wright went on to hit 10-of-12 from the field, in addition to posting a perfect 6-for-6 performance from the free throw line,  to finish the game with a career-high 26 points.

- FIU has now converted at least one 3-pointer in 91-straight games, dating back to Dec. 20, 2008. Versus Alabama State, the Panthers went 1-of-9 from beyond the arc to mark a season-low in 3-point field goals made and attempted, as well as 3-point field goal percentage (.111). Senior Jeremy Allen recorded FIU's lone trey of the night, finishing the contest 1-of-4 from 3-point land.

- Tonight's meeting marked the first-ever between FIU and Alabama State as the Hornets now own a 1-0 advantage for the series. ASU is one of six first-time opponents on FIU's 2011-12 schedule and the Panthers are 1-2 against first-time opponents this season.

- For the second time this season, FIU committed a season-high 19 turnovers against Alabama State. The Hornets scored 20 points off turnovers for the contest.

- FIU will return to action on Dec. 10 when the Panthers begin a four-game road swing versus Texas Wesleyan as part of the E-Tech Lumberjack Classic in Nacogdoches, Texas. The following day, FIU will take on tournament host Stephen F. Austin.

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.

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.