MIAMI (Dec. 2, 2014) — The FIU men's basketball team (5-3) remained perfect at home this season with a 59-38 victory over the Kennesaw State Owls on Tuesday night from Lime Court at FIU Arena.

Junior Daviyon Draper played like a mad man in the Panthers' victory, scoring a career-high and game-high tying 16 points (7-of-13), while senior Dennis Mavin scored in double-figures for the fourth-straight game, going 6-of-13 for 16 points and a game-high eight boards. Draper and sophomore Dominique Williams were close behind with six rebounds apiece, while Williams also dished seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the floor. 

FIU was able to counter each Owls' bucket before taking a 6-4 lead off sophomore Dominique Williams' layup at the 16-minute mark. Senior Kris Gulley made back-to-back jumpers in the paint midway through the half, while a layup by Draper extended FIU's run to 12-0, putting the Panthers ahead, 18-11, entering a media timeout at with just under eight minutes to play. Quick scores by both Draper and Mavin gave FIU its first double-digit lead of the night, 22-11. Kennesaw State broke an almost 11-minute scoreless drought with  two made free-throw attempts with 1:30 on the clock, but a trey by senior Marco Porcher Jimenez on the Panthers' next possession quickly killed any momentum. FIU went into the break with a 28-15 lead.

The second half featured both teams applying strong defense through the first seven minutes, as FIU slowly extended its lead to 17 points, 38-21, off of a old fashioned three-point play by Williams with 12:33 remaining in the game. Two made free-throws by Draper at the 7:38-mark and a jumper by redshirt junior Adrian Diaz with 6:35 to play put the Panthers ahead by by its largest lead of the night and its first 20-point lead of the game, 49-28. FIU extended its lead to a game-high 25 points, 56-33, when Mavin sank a field goal with 2:46 to play. 

The Panthers' offense shot at a 43 percent from the floor for the night (24-of-55), while the defense held Kennesaw State to a season low 38 points (27 percent, 14-of-52), the lowest in program history. 

FIU next travels to No.6/5 Louisville for a 7 p.m. match-up with the Cardinals, which will air on FOX Sports South. It's part of an eight-game, 44-day road trip for the Panthers.

GAME NOTES:
The 38 points allowed by FIU are the fewest in program history…The last time FIU held a team below 40 points was Florida College on Nov. 14, 2013…Daviyon Draper scored a career-high 16 points, passing his previous high of nine that he set twice this season…He also scored a career-high seven field goals…Senior Marco Porcher Jimenez eclipsed the 400-point plateau for his career. His three points on Tuesday night now gives him 402 career points…Dennis Mavin's 16 points tonight put him over the 800-point plateau for his career… It's also his fourth-straight double-digit scoring effort… Dominique Williams eclipsed the 100-rebound plateau with his six boards on Tuesday night…FIU scored a season-high 29 bench points.

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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/.