Box Score MIAMI (Jan. 19, 2013) – Trailing 45-37 with 9:52 left in the game, the FIU men's basketball team (10-8, 5-4 SBC) out-scored the Troy Trojans (7-12, 2-6 SBC), 24-10, to close out the game and earn the team's fifth-straight home victory on Saturday evening at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Led by junior Malik Smith, who scored a game-high 22 points, the Panthers picked up the team's 10th win of the season and fifth in Sun Belt Conference play.

Smith shot 7-of-13 from the floor and 5-of-11 from 3-points range. The Boston, Mass., native recorded his fifth, 20-point outing of the season. Also scoring in double-figures were junior Tymell Murphy (15 points) and senior Cameron Bell (12 points). Murphy shot 5-of-9 from the floor and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Bell converted 3-of-7 from the floor and 6-of-8 from the free-throw line for his third-straight game scoring in double-figures.

Freshman Jerome Frink tied Murphy for the team high in rebounds with eight in 25 minutes of action.

FIU finished the game shooting 37.0 percent (20-of-54) from the floor and 30.4 percent shooting from 3-point range (7-of-23). The Panthers converted 14-of-20 from the free-throw line (70.0 percent), including 11-of-12 in the second half. FIU held Troy to 38.8 percent shooting from the floor and 28.6 percent from beyond the arc.

Both teams ended the night with 35 rebounds, while FIU held a 23-20 edge in points in the paint. FIU forced 12 Trojan turnovers and committed a season-low four turnovers.
The win snapped a seven-game losing skid for the Panthers when FIU trailed at the half. It was also the first win for FIU in regulation over the Trojans since Feb. 19, 2009. 

FIU will next travel to Lafayette, La., to face the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on Thursday, Jan. 24. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m. ET.

Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUMensBBall on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIU-Mens-Basketball) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Google+ (FIU Athletics), Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).
 
About FIU Athletics: FIU Athletics is home to more than 400 student-athletes in 18 different sports. 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 50,000 students in two campuses 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. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.