HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (March 3, 2012) --- The FIU men's basketball team (8-21) were eliminated from the 2012 Sun Belt Conference Tournament with a 67-63 loss to the WKU Hilltoppers (12-18) on Saturday, March 3, in Hot Springs, Ark. 

With the scored tied a 61-61 and 1:02 left on the clock, WKU out-scored the Panthers, 6-2, with all of its points coming from the free-throw line (6-of-6), to hand FIU its final loss of the year.

FIU, which trailed for much of the first half and by as many as 12 points, battled back in the second half. The Hilltoppers held a 41-29 lead with 16:24 left in the game before FIU went on an 18-6 run to tie the score at 47-all. WKU pushed its lead back to seven points following a pair of made free throws with 3:21 left in the game.  FIU responded scoring seven-straight points, capped off by a game-tying 3-pointer by Sophomore Phil Taylor with 1:39 on the game clock. That bucket made the score 61-61. 

The Panthers were led offensively by senior DeJuan Wright, who scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the game's only double-double. The Detroit, Mich., native registered his seventh double-double of the season in final game as a Panther. Junior Cameron Bell notched 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the charity stripe.

For the game FIU shot 39.6 percent from the floor (21-of-53) and 29.4 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-17). The Panthers converted 80.0 percent of their free throws on the night. 

The Hilltoppers, which shot 36.7 percent from the floor (22-of-60) and drained 10 treys (43.5 percent from 3-point range), was led by Kahlil McDonald, who scored 19 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Also scoring in double-figures for WKU were T.J. Price (11 pts.) and George Fant (10 pts.). Derrick Gordon led the Hilltoppers in rebounds with 10.

WKU out-rebounded the Panthers, 47-31, including a 19-7 advantage on the offensive boards. FIU forced 15 WKU turnovers, resulting in 19 points for the Panthers. However, WKU scored 19 second-chance points to just four for FIU.

The loss dropped FIU to 0-5 all-time versus WKU in the Sun Belt Tournament.
 
With the loss, the Panthers finish the 2011-2012 season with an 8-21 record.

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 bachelor's, master's 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 in17 sports. In 2010 the Panthers won their first bowl game. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.