MIAMI (Nov. 16, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team improved its record to 2-0 with a convincing 67-51 win over Florida Memorial University on Monday night at Lime Court at FIU Arena.
Daviyon Draper led the Panthers in the scoring column with 19 points, on 9-of-17 shooting from the field, while grabbing six rebounds in 31 minutes.
Adrian Diaz recorded his eighth double-double of his career with a 17-point and 14-rebound effort. His 14 boards marked a new career high, for the 6-foot-10 center, surpassing his previous mark of 12 rebounds set at UAB on March 7, 2015. In addition, Diaz also logged three blocks in the win.
After leading briefly in the first two minutes of action, the Lions (2-2) managed to keep the game to within eight points for the majority of the first half. The Panthers, however, stepped up the defensive intensity for the final 10 minutes of the first stanza, outscoring Florida Memorial, 15-6, and heading into the locker room at the break up 35-18. During that stretch, FIU held the Lions to just 1-of-16 shooting from the field in the final eight minutes of action.
Although the Lions would outscore the Panthers in the second half, 33-32, they would never pose much of a threat to FIU which extended its lead to a game-high 26 points, twice in the final seven minutes of play en route to the win.
In addition to Draper and Diaz scoring in double-figures,
Jason Boswell also hit double digits with 10 points, on a perfect shooting night, going 3-of-3 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. He also added five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes of action.
Donte McGill also posted solid numbers with a nine-point effort, to go along with six rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal, while getting his first-career start at FIU.
On the night, the Panthers shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, while holding Florida Memorial to just 26.2 percent (17-of-65) from the floor, and 19.2 percent (5-of-26) from behind the three-point arc.
FIU will hit the road for the first time this season when it travels to Harrisonburg, Va., to take part in the JMU Men Against Breast Cancer Classic, Nov. 20-22. The Panthers will begin play on Nov. 20 against James Madison at 3:30 p.m., before facing UT Martin on Nov. 21 (7:30 p.m.) and Oral Roberts on Nov. 22 (1 p.m.).
FIU will return home to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 25 when it faces LIU Brooklyn at 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/.
