FORT MYERS, Fla.  (Dec. 14, 2014) – The FIU men's basketball team (6-4) knocked off Florida Gulf Coast (8-2) by a score of 69-63 on Sunday afternoon at Alico Arena. The win was the second-consecutive for the Panthers over the Eagles as FIU now improves to 4-3 all-time against FGCU, while handing Florida Gulf Coast its first home loss of the season.

Heading into Sunday's game, FGCU had an RPI of 33 (as of Dec. 11) and was ranked 12th in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. Prior to the contest, the Eagles were 34-3 at Alico Arena since the start of the 2012-13 season and 22-1 against non-conference opponents since the start of the 2011-12 campaign. Also, the Panthers held FGCU's Brett Comer, the NCAA active career assists leader to a season-low three helpers.

"I think we started playing team basketball and we stopped taking individual shots," said FIU head coach Anthony Evans. "Guys that came off the bench made a contribution not just by shooting the ball but playing defense."

Senior guard Dennis Mavin led the way for the Panthers, scoring a career-high 27 points while gathering nine rebounds and tallying three assists. Mavin was 10-for-17 from the field, as his 10 buckets also marked a career-best for him. The Gainesville, Fla. native drained six free throws, made one three and also grabbed a steal in the win.
FIU had three players score in double-figures, as senior Marco Porcher Jimenez (14) and junior Daviyon Draper (10) rounded out the double-digit scorers. Porcher Jimenez's 14 points were a season-high for him and he is now averaging 13.5 points-per-game over his last two games. Draper added eight rebounds to go along with his 10 tallies in 18 minutes of action.

"Something we really pride ourselves on is defense," said Mavin. "It was a great win and a great effort on our end, but we have another game to prepare for on Thursday."

For the game, FIU shot 50 percent from the floor, marking the third time the Panthers have shot at least 50 percent or better in a game. The Panthers also made five threes to shoot a season-high 38.5 percent from downtown. FIU out-rebounded FGCU, 39-27, grabbing 10 rebounds on the offensive glass, resulting in a season-high plus-12 rebounding margin. In addition, FIU's 32 points off the bench were a season-high, surpassing the previous mark of 29 set versus Kennesaw State on Dec. 2.

"I think we have to gain whatever respect we get," said Evans. "We have to go out and perform consistently in order to garner that type of respect."

The first half was a game of runs as the Eagles had the first big one, a stretch of outscoring the Panthers 13-0 and holding them without a field goal for 7:30 as FGCU jumped out to a 20-6 lead with 9:46 to go in the first half. After the Eagles extended their lead to 22-8, the Panthers countered, starting with a layup from Mavin at the 7:57 mark to make it 22-10. Porcher Jimenez was responsible for the next six points,  as he drained two threes at 7:22 and 6:34 to cut the FGCU lead to 22-16. A jumper in the lane by sophomore Dominique Williams capped off a 10-0 run as the Panthers were within four with 5:53 remaining in the first stanza.

The Eagles answered with five-straight points before junior Michael Phillip hit a layup as time expired on the shot clock to make it a 27-20 game. Mavin drained a three and junior Tashawn Desir scored on a layup in traffic to shrink the Eagle lead to just two points. After Mavin made a free throw to make it 27-26, FGCU scored the next five to have a six-point advantage with 31 seconds remaining in the first half. Mavin hit a jumper in the closing second to finish off his 15-point first half as FIU trailed, 32-28.

In the opening moments of the second half, both teams went back-and-forth, as the Eagles never would surrender the lead up until the 12:02 mark, leading 41-39. The Panthers tied the game up at the 12:02 and would take over from there, as Williams scored the next four points to give FIU a two-point edge. Junior Adrian Diaz made a hook shot in the paint to increase the lead to four and Mavin followed with a free throw to make it 46-41 with 9:24 to go. Porcher Jimenez capped off a 10-0 Panther run with a big three with 8:35 remaining as FIU led, 49-41.

The Eagles would close within three points, but that would be as close as they would get to the Panther lead. A layup by Mavin and another three by Porcher Jimenez made it 56-48 heading into the final four minutes. Diaz made two-straight free throws to increase the lead to double-digits and a posterizing dunk by Draper increased FIU's lead to 62-50. Then with 1:52 to go, Mavin made two from the charity stripe to give FIU its largest lead of the game at 13 points. Full court pressure in the closing moments allowed the Eagles to get some quick points back, but that wouldn't be enough.

FIU is back in action this Thursday at 7 p.m. as it takes on LIU Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center.

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 Google+ (FIU Athletics), 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 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/.