Box Score HARRISONBURG, Va. (Nov. 21, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team got back on the winning track, on Saturday, with a 69-62 win over UT Martin on day two of the JMU Men Against Breast Cancer Classic in Harrisonburg, Va. The win improves the Panthers to 3-1 on the year, while the Skyhawks drop to 0-4.
The Panthers were led by
Daviyon Draper and
Adrian Diaz who scored 19 and 17 points, respectively. Draper shot 5-of-13 from the field and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line to go along with his seven boards, while Diaz was 6-of-9 from the floor with seven rebounds and five blocked shots.
Ray Rodriguez added 10 points off the bench, nine of which came from behind the three-point arc.
FIU used a 23-5 run during the last 11:50 of the first half to take its biggest lead of the game, 42-21, on a three-point shot by
Eric Nottage with 1:56 left before the intermission. The Panthers eventually took a 19-point advantage, 42-23, into the locker room at the break.
FIU found itself with a hot hand in the first 20 minutes, shooting 66.7 percent (16-of-24) from the floor, and 55.6 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range.
UT Martin, however, battled its way back into the contest cutting the Panthers lead to single digits, 47-39, with 14:21 left in the game. The Skyhawks eventually got the FIU lead down to three points, twice in the final 7:31, the final coming on two made free-throws by Myles Taylor with 6:49 remaining to make the score 57-54.
The Panthers, however, would bend but not break, allowing just five points during the final 4:45 of the game.
FIU finished the game shooting 48.9 percent (23-for-47) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from behind the three-point arc.
The Panthers forced the Skyhawks into 20 turnovers in the contest, including 12 in the first half, which led to 24 points en route to the win.
FIU will close out the Classic against Oral Roberts tomorrow, Sunday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m.
The Panthers will return home to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Wednesday, Nov. 25 when the team 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/.
