HARTFORD, Conn. (Dec. 21, 2014) – The FIU men's basketball team (6-6) fell to the Hartford Hawks by a score of 82-69 on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks drained 13 three-pointers on the day, including 10 in the first half, to help guide their offense in the victory.
Redshirt junior
Adrain Diaz led the way for the Panthers, scoring 29 points on 13-of-14 shooting from the field, as his 13 made field goals matched his career-high. The Miami native added eight rebounds, one assist and one steal in 35 minutes of action. Redshirt junior
Ray Rodriguez netted 11 points in the loss to go along with three assists and one steal. Also scoring in double-figures was sophomore
Dominique Williams, who tallied 11 points, three assists and three steals.
Hartford came out firing on all cylinders to take a 23-13 lead with 11:01 to go in the half after making five of its first 11 shots from three-point range. Mavin cut it to an eight-point game and senior
Kris Gulley then hit a three to make it 23-18 in favor of the Hawks. Hartford used a 13-3 run though, with nine of those points coming on threes, to make it a 15-point game. The Panthers cut it down to seven points on a layup by Diaz at the 1:54 mark, but the Hawks closed out the half on a 6-2 run to carry a 42-31 lead going into halftime.
FIU got on the board first in the second half on a layup by Williams, but Hartford scored the next four to extend its lead to 13 points. The Panthers clawed their way back though when Diaz sunk a layup at the 14:49 mark to trail, 51-42. Williams followed that up with a three-point play and Mavin made a layup to make it just a four-point game with 13:19 to go. The Panthers would keep it within seven and two-straight baskets by Diaz made it a three-point game with 9:41 remaining, 56-53.
Hartford would score the next four points before Williams sank two free throws to make it a five-point game. The Hawks answered again with a mini 5-0 run to give themselves a 10-point lead with 6:07 to go in the contest. Following a tip-in by Diaz, Hartford again scored five-straight points to make the lead 13. FIU trimmed the lead to eight points on a tip-in by Gulley and two from the charity stripe by Diaz. However, Hartford got the lead back up 14 in the closing moments of the game and held on for an 82-69 victory.
FIU will have the holidays off before heading to Florida A&M on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m.
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 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 of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.
