CHARLOTTE, N.C.  (Jan. 31, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team (10-10, 3-4) got back to its winning ways on Saturday night, knocking off the Charlotte 49ers at Halton Arena, 78-70. The Panthers made a season-high 13 threes and shot 61.9 percent from three-point range.

Senior guard Dennis Mavin scored his 1,000^th career point in the victory, as he finished the game with 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting, including four threes. Sophomore Dominique Williams scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds for FIU while junior Adrian Diaz recorded his third career double-double as he poured in 12 points, 10 rebounds and blocked a career-high six shots. In addition to the strong three-point shooting, FIU shot 54.4 percent from the field for the night, a season-high.

Mavin connected on FIU's first field goal of the game at the 18:33 mark, giving him his 1,000^th career point. The 49ers would lead by as many as six early, but the Panthers wouldn't let the lead get  to more than that. Two consecutive layups for Mavin shrunk the Charlotte lead to 12-10 with 13:51 to go before Charlotte's Torin Dorn made a three to up the lead back to five. However, a three by Mavin and a jumper by Diaz tied the game up at 15 near the midway point of the first half.

Trailing 20-17, FIU's next four baskets would be from long distance, as sophomore Dominique Williams, redshirt junior Ray Rodriguez, senior Kris Gulley and sophomore Jason Boswell each connected on threes to put the Panthers ahead, 29-25. A layup by Mavin at the 5:36 mark gave FIU a six-point lead to force a Charlotte timeout. After the 49ers cut it to three, FIU scored the next seven points, five of those points coming from Rodriguez. Charlotte drained a three, but Mavin countered with another from beyond the arc to put FIU ahead by 10. The Gainesville, Fla. native did it again with 33 seconds, knocking down another trey to give FIU a 44-31 halftime lead.   

Junior Tashawn Desir came into the second half and scored five of FIU's first seven points to give the Panthers an 18-point edge at the 17:31 mark. Following a jumper by Draper with 16:42 to stable the lead at 17, Charlotte scored the next four points and nine of the next 11 to force an Anthony Evans timeout with 13:44 remaining in regulation. Out of the timeout, the Panthers took five of the next seven points, on a jumper by Draper and three from Williams to make it a 60-46 game with 12:57 to go. A few minutes later Draper drained a three to put FIU ahead 69-51.

Charlotte battled back and put together a 13-0 run to cut it to seven. Gulley made one of two free throws to increase the lead to eight, but Charlotte cut it down to five with 2:33 to go. The back-and-forth game continued as Mavin made a layup, Charlotte answered with a free throw and Diaz came back with a layup to make it an eight-point game with 1:30 to go. FIU locked down from there and would not let the 49ers get within six. Williams converted a layup with 51 seconds, resulting in a final score of 78-70.

FIU begins a three-game homestand on Tuesday night as it hosts rival Florida Atlantic at 7:30 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).

#####  

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/.