SPARTANBURG, S.C.  (Nov. 28, 2014) – Senior guard Dennis Mavin matched his career-high in points with 24, which included a game-tying layup with four seconds remaining in regulation, to help lift FIU to a 61-59 overtime victory over the Wright State Raiders on Friday.

To go along with his 24 points, Mavin grabbed nine rebounds and three steals in 37 minutes of action. Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz tallied 19 points to go along with eight rebounds, one block and one steal. Junior Daviyon Draper added seven points and four boards while sophomore Dominique Williams chipped in six points and eight rebounds.

Mavin put the Panthers ahead on a three in the early stages of the game to give FIU a 6-5 lead at the 13:39 mark. A layup by junior Tashawn Desir and another three by Mavin would increase the Panther lead to 11-7. A three-point play by Draper with 9:36 to go in the first half would up the FIU lead to seven. After Wright State trimmed the lead to five, two free throws by Diaz gave FIU an 18-11 advantage.

From that point, the Panthers would use a 6-0 run to get their biggest lead of the game at 13, capped off by a dunk by Diaz at the 5:21 mark. FIU would maintain the near double-digit lead going into halftime, leading by nine. The Panthers shot 52.4 percent from the floor in the first half and held the Raiders to 32.1 percent.

Wright State came out in the second half strong, putting together a 9-1 run to cut the Panther lead to one with 16:09 to go. Mavin answered with a layup to increase the lead, but the Raiders' JT Yoho came right back to cut it to one. The back-and-forth game continued as Mavin hit a jumper and Steven Davis of the Raiders came back with a layup to make it a 36-35 FIU advantage with 13:27 to go. Mavin hit a jumper, FIU surrendered two free throws, Mavin hit another layup and Chrishawn Hopkins drained a jumper as FIU still clinged to the one-point lead.

Just as FIU looked to have created separation on four free throws by Mavin to make the score 44-39 with 8:35 to go, Wright State put together another big run of 13-4 to take a 51-48 lead with just over three minutes remaining. Diaz cut the Raider lead to one on a layup with 54 seconds to go. On the other end, the Raiders made one of two free throws to make it 52-50 with 17 seconds to go. From there, Mavin took over and had a strong finish on a drive and layup with four seconds to go to tie it up at 52. FIU made a stop defensively from there to force overtime.

In the extra frame, Desir put the Panthers ahead by two on free throws, but the Raiders hit a three on the other end to go ahead. Two free throws by Mavin and a dunk in the lane by Diaz put the Panthers ahead 58-55 with 2:48 to go. Draper would hit two free throws late to increase the lead to five. The Raiders made a three with 15 seconds to go to cut it to two. On the inbound for FIU, the pass was stolen and Wright State had a chance to tie or take the lead. FIU's stout defense didn't allow the Raiders to get a shot off, resulting in a 61-59 Panther victory.

FIU will close out the Spartanburg Marriott Upstate Classic on Saturday as it takes on Cal State Fullerton at 3:30 p.m.  The game can be seen on ESPN3.  
 
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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 doctoral programs 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 of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.