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EL PASO, Texas (Feb. 14, 2014) – The FIU basketball team (13-13, 5-6) concluded its Texas road trip with an 84-71 loss to the UTEP Miners on Saturday night. Despite trailing by 18 points at halftime, the Panthers would manage to cut the Miner lead to seven in the second half, but UTEP closed the game strong in the final minutes.

Redshirt senior Rakeem Buckles led the way for the Panthers with 19 points and six rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Senior Tymell Murphy and redshirt junior Dennis Mavin each netted 13 points, while sophomore Jerome Frink chipped in 11 points. UTEP shot 57.1 percent from the floor for the contest, while FIU was held to 42.6 percent shooting. The Miners also drained seven threes, while FIU netted four.

FIU started out with a 3-pointer from  Buckles and a jumper from Frink to give the Panthers a 5-2 lead at the 17:54 mark. The Miners would break the game open from there, stringing together an 11-0 run to quickly take a 13-5 lead with 13:13 to go in the first half. UTEP scored seven of the next 10 points from there to up its lead to 20-10. The Miners kept the margin between eight and 12 points until the 2:59 mark when they jumped out to a 13-point advantage, 32-19. They scored nine of the final 11 points of the half to walk into the locker room with a 39-21 lead.

Trailing by 17 early in the second half, FIU strung together a 9-0 run that was started by a field goal from Buckles. Freshman Jason Boswell cut the lead to 13 with 14:15 to go followed by  a bucket by Frink with 13:24 remaining. Boswell drained a three to cut UTEP's lead just eight, 47-39. However, UTEP scored seven of the next eight points to make it 54-40 with 10:45 to go.

Following an exchange of scores, redshirt sophomore Cody Mann drove to the basket, scored and was fouled  allowing for a three-point play. Off the inbounds, Mann stole the pass and found Buckles for a dunk at the 8:34 mark to cut UTEP's lead to 56-47. UTEP made one of two free throws on the other end to extend its lead to 10 with under eight minutes remaining.

At the 6:50 mark, Murphy found Mavin on a nice back-door cut to trip the Miners' lead to nine. UTEP made four-straight free throws to extend its lead to 11 points. FIU scored the next five points, three coming from Buckles and the other two from Frink at the 5:55 mark to get the Panthers within seven. Following an exchange of scores, the Miners made four-straight free throws to extend its lead to 11.

UTEP would build on its lead to make it a 15-point game thanks to a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk. Buckles converted on a three-point play with 38.2 seconds left to cut the lead to 79-67, but UTEP would put it away on a quick transition basket.

 FIU will be back in action next Thursday night, Feb. 20, as it hosts North Texas at 7 p.m. on Lime Court at FIU Arena.

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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, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.