MIAMI (Nov. 13, 2015) – FIU tipped off its 35^th season of intercollegiate basketball on Friday, Nov. 13, and did so in dominating fashion with a 71-39 win over Trinity Baptist College at Lime Court at FIU Arena. The win is the second-straight, season-opening victory for the Panthers, and the third in the past five years.
 
Adrian Diaz picked up where he left off last season posting impressive numbers. The Miami native poured in 15 points – on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and from the free throw line – and grabbed 11 rebounds for his eighth double-double with FIU. The nation's seventh-best shot blocker in 2014-15 averaging 3.0 blocks-per-game, Diaz also rejected four shots on the night to go along with three steals in 27 minutes.
 
Daviyon Draper also netted double figures with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting and grabbed four rebounds. Kimar Williams tallied double figures with 10 points while also dishing out a game-high five assists in his first collegiate game.
 
The Panthers (1-0) shot a blistering 50.9 percent (27-of-53) for the game and used stifling defense to allow the Eagles (2-2) to hit only 25 percent (13-of-52) of their shots from the field. FIU also forced Trinity Baptist into 15 turnovers on the night resulting in 12 points.
 
As was expected with the Panthers' size advantage, FIU controlled the paint offensively, outscoring the Eagles 36-10 in the lane. In addition, the Panthers' bench also made a major contribution scoring 29 of the team's 71 points.
 
FIU will be back in action of Monday, Nov. 16 when faces Florida Memorial at Lime Court at FIU Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
 
For men's basketball ticket information, contact the FIU Ticket Office at 305-FIU-GAME or log onto www.FIUSports.com.
 
Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUHoops 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 at the FIU Football 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 Florida's 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/.