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SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Feb. 13, 2014) – In a game where the Panthers never trailed, the FIU men's basketball team (13-12, 5-5 C-USA) defeated the UTSA Roadrunners (7-16, 3-7 C-USA), 80-72, on Thursday night at the Convocation Center.

Five Panthers scored in double-figures, led by redshirt junior Dennis Mavin, who posted 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the floor. Senior Tymell Murphy added 13 points, while redshirt senior Rakeem Buckles (12), freshman Dominique Williams (11) and redshirt sophomore Cody Mann (10) all reached double-digits in scoring. Buckles corralled a team-high 10 boards to register his 11th double-double of the season.

FIU held the lead from start to finish, beginning with a 3-pointer by Mavin at the 19:24 mark in the first half. The Panthers took a six-point lead out of halftime and out-scored the Roadrunners, 42-40, for the team's 13th win of the season. Leading by as many as 18 points, FIU out-shot UTSA in the second half 52.0 percent to 36.1 percent.

The Panthers entered halftime with a 38-32 lead. Junior Marco Porcher Jimenez led all scorers with nine points, hitting three treys, while Buckles grabbed a team-high five boards in the first 20 minutes of action. For the half, FIU shot 45.2 percent (14-of-31) from the floor and converted 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) from the free-throw line.

For the game, FIU shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the floor and 38.1 percent (8-of-21) from 3-point range. Defensively, the Panthers held UTSA to 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the floor and 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from beyond the arc. The Roadrunners held a 37-31 edge on the boards, while FIU forced 13 turnovers, resulting in 14 points for the Panthers.

The win snaps a three-game, road-losing skid for FIU and evens the series history between the two teams, 1-1.

The Panthers now travel to El Paso, Texas, to take on the UTEP Miners on Saturday, Feb. 15. Game time is set for 9:05 p.m. ET.

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 U.S. Century Bank Arena and Alfonso Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. Its colleges and schools offer more than 180 bachelor¹s, master¹s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida¹s anchor institutions, FIU is Worlds Ahead in its local and global engagement, finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded 200,000 degrees and enrolls 50,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visithttp://www.fiu.edu/.