MIAMI (Nov. 14, 2014)  — The FIU men's basketball team (1-0) handed the Florida College Falcons a convincing, 64-42, loss on Friday night as part of the Panthers' season opener from Lime Court at FIU Arena. 
 
Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz made a strong impact in his first game in an FIU uniform, as the Miami native notched 11 points on a 5-of-7 night from the floor, which included three momentum-changing dunks, two of which came in the first half. The Kansas State transfer also collected a career-high five blocks in the effort. Senior Dennis Mavin led the Panthers with the team's only double-double, as the guard finished with 17 points off an 8-of-11 night, while posting a career-high 10 boards. It marked the Gainesville, Fla., native's first-career double-double. Sophomore Dominique Williams was FIU's third double-digit scorer, as he shot 5-of-6 for a career-high11 points.
 
Just one minute into the game, Diaz set the tone with a dunk that was assisted by junior Tashawn Desir. The Panthers went on an 11-4 run to open the game, forcing Florida College to use its second timeout before the 14-minute mark. Mavin fed Diaz the ball on a fast-break for an easy layup to draw the stop. The then-9-0 run for FIU continued with Diaz breaking the game open on his second dunk of the half, as FIU went 5-of-5 from the floor during the span of 2:40, which took the clock to 12:04 in the half. Senior Kris Gulley earned his first points with the Panthers off a trey with 5:53 remaining in the half, pushing FIU to a 27-4 lead and continuing the dominating run to 20-0.
 
FIU entered the break leading, 33-14. Diaz led all players with eight points off a 4-of-5 performance from the floor, while Mavin was a close second with seven points following a 3-for-4 half, which included a free throw. Williams had a game-high seven boards through the first 20 minutes. 
 
The Panthers continued to control the pace of the game in the second half, as an 8-2 run carried FIU to a 41-16 lead at the first timeout with 15:06 to play. FIU kept applying the pressure, as senior Marco Porcher Jimenez drained a shot from downtown at 12:52, to give the Panthers a 46-21 advantage. Up by nearly 30 points approaching the six-minute mark, Williams hit a jumper to put the Panthers up by 28 points, 57-29. The Falcons tried to ease the deficit by putting up 11 points in the final three minutes, but a Desir trey with 53 seconds to play sealed the deal for FIU.
 
The Panthers finished the night shooting 51.9 percent from the floor, while holding Florida College to just 28.3 percent for the night.

Game Notes: FIU improved to 2-0 all-time vs. Florida College…The Panthers improve to 20-14 all-time in season openers and 27-7 in home openers…FIU's victory is its first win in an opener since Nov. 14, 2011, when the Panthers defeated George Mason…The 42 points allowed by FIU are the second fewest ever for the program...With 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds, Dennis Mavin posted his first career double-double…Last season, FIU set the program record against Florida College, allowing just 39 points…Adrian Diaz matched his career-high in points scored with 11 (2012 at Texas) and set a personal best in blocks with five…Dominique Williams set a career-high with 11 points, besting  his previous mark of 10 set at UTSA last season…Of the 10 athletes that played in Friday's contest, seven of them made their FIU debut.

FIU travels to Stetson this Tuesday with a 7 p.m. scheduled first tip.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUMensBBall on Twitter, and "Like" FIU men's basketball on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/FIUMensBBall) for the latest Panther basketball news. Follow all of FIU's 18 athletic teams on Twitter (@FIUAthletics), Facebook (Facebook.com/FIUSports), YouTube (FIUPanthers), and Instagram (FIUathletics).


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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 FIU Arena and Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoralprograms in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member ofConference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.