Box Score MIAMI (Jan. 5, 2013) – Led by junior Tymell Murphy's career-high 28 points, the FIU men's basketball team (6-7 , 2-3 SBC) picked up its second-straight win with a 75-70 victory over the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (6-1, 2-4 SBC) on Saturday evening at U.S. Century Bank Arena.

Murphy tallied game-highs in points (28) and rebounds (15) for his second-straight double-double. He has now recorded 35 rebounds over the past two games. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native also recorded a career-high five blocks, including a key swat with 1:01 left in the game as the Panthers held a 67-64 lead.

Freshman Jerome Frink registered double-digit rebounds for the third-straight game, grabbing a career-high 12 boards to go along with seven points. Redshirt sophomore Marco Porcher Jimenez added 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting while sophomore Deric Hill notched five assists with six points and three steals. 

Leading by as many as 10 points, the Panthers held the lead in all but 20 seconds of the first half. FIU entered halftime with a 40-31 lead, shooting 50.0 percent from the floor. Murphy tallied 14 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes to lead all players.

Louisiana came out in the second half on an 8-0 run to cut FIU's lead to one at 43-42 with 15:34 on the clock. The Panthers responded with a 5-0 run of their own, capped off with a tip-in by Murphy with 14:01 on the clock. FIU extended its lead to 10 points, following an 8-0 run midway through the second half to make the score 58-48. However, the Ragin' Cajuns battled back to tie the score at 64-64 with 2:44 left in the game.

A key 3-pointer by junior Malik Smith with 1:30 left on the clock followed by a 3-point play by Murphy with 42 seconds remaining gave the Panthers the lead for good, 70-64. Louisiana tried to spoil FIU's attempt at a second-straight home victory, but the Panthers held on for the 75-70 win.

For the game, FIU shot 41.7 percent from the floor (25-of-60) and 21.1 percent from 3-point range (4-of-19). The Panthers struggled from the free-throw line, converting just 55.3 percent from the charity stripe (21-of-38). Louisiana shot 38.3 percent from the floor (23-of-60) and kept the game close with 12 treys (40.0 percent – 12-of-30 from beyond the arc).

The Panthers out-rebounded the Ragin' Cajuns, 48-37, and out-scored Louisiana in the paint, 34-18. With 12 steals on the night, FIU forced 22 turnovers resulting in 16 points. 
The win snapped a three-game losing skid versus Louisiana, as well as a three-game losing skid in conference play.  

FIU will next host the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats on Monday, Jan. 7 at U.S. Century Bank Arena. Game time is set for 1:00 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/