Box Score  BOCA RATON, Fla. (March 2, 2013) – The FIU men's basketball team (16-13, 11-9 SBC) closed out the 2012-2013 regular season with a 77-60 loss at Florida Atlantic (14-17, 9-11 SBC) on Saturday night at FAU Arena.
 
FIU was led by Malik Smith, who registered 18 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the floor. The Boston, Mass., native drained four 3-pointers while grabbing three boards. Also scoring in double-figures was junior Tymell Murphy, who posted 10 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native recorded two blocks and grabbed five rebounds on the night. Senior Tola Akomolafe also grabbed five rebounds to go along with nine points.
 
The Panthers finished the night shooting 37.0 percent from the floor (20-of-54) and converted 5-of-19 from 3-point range (26.3 percent). Florida Atlantic out-scored FIU in the paint, 40-30, while shooting 50.0 percent for the game (30-of-60). The Owls were led by Stefan Moody, who notched 28 points on 11-of-20 shooting.  
 
Despite holding a 31-30 advantage at the half, FIU was out-scored 47-29 in the final stanza, resulting in the 17-point loss.
 
The loss snapped a three-game winning streak as the Panthers finished the 2012-2013 regular season with a 16-13 record and a league mark of 11-9. The nine league victories are the most conference wins since FIU joined the Sun Belt Conference in 1998-1999. 
 
FIU will next head to Hot Springs, Ark., to take part in the 2013 Sun Belt Conference Tournament (March 8-11). The Panthers, which clinched the No. 4 seed, will play the ULAR Trojans on Saturday, March 9. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. ET. Check back on FIUSports.com for the official seedings announcement and tournament information.
 
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/.