JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Dec. 14, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team kicked off its three-game road stretch with a 94-72 loss to North Florida on Monday night at UNF Arena. The loss drops the Panthers to 4-6 on the year while the Ospreys improve to 8-4.
 
Adrian Diaz led five players in double figures with 19 points, while Cameron Smith added 11 points. Daviyon Draper, Jason Boswell and Donte Mcgill all chipped in with 10 points apiece.
 
Smith also grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in a losing effort.
 
The Panthers jumped out on top early, leading by as many as five points, 8-3, on a jump shot by Mcgill with 17:34 left in the half, and then again on two made free throws by Diaz with 16:33 left before the intermission.
 
FIU would lead for the majority of the first stanza, until the Ospreys took the lead, 30-29, and would not relinquish it for the remainder of the game, on a layup by Demarcus Daniels with 5:47 left.
 
North Florida eventually extended its advantage to what would be, at that point, a game-high nine-point lead, 42-33, on the second of two made free throws by Daniels with 2:04 left in the half.
 
The Ospreys would eventually take a 45-36 lead into the locker room at the intermission.
 
North Florida came out in the second half and never let the Panthers back into the game as Beau Beech hit three of his four second half treys on three-consecutive possessions, the final of which came with 14:39 left in the game to give the Ospreys a 64-48 lead.
 
FIU would cut the lead to 10 points, 70-60, with 9:38 left on two made free throws by Smith, but the Panthers would not get any closer the rest of the way.
 
FIU shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the field on the night.
 
FIU will now embark on a two-game road trip, beginning at Northern Illinois on Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. The Panthers then head to the Empire State to take on Binghamton on Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. in Vestal, N.Y.
 
FIU will return to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. when it closes out its non-conference schedule against Florida A&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/.