VESTAL, N.Y. (Dec. 22, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team closed out its three-game road stretch – and two-game road trip – with a big 66-49 win over Binghamton on Tuesday night at the BU Events Center, ending the teams five-game losing streak.
Donte McGill led three players in double figures with 22 points, while
Adrian Diaz and
Daviyon Draper added 16 and 13 points, respectively in the win. Diaz also grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, for his 11th-career double-double, to go along with four blocked shots and two assists. Draper posted his second-straight double-double, and the third of his career, with 10 rebounds in addition to 10 points.
For McGill, his 22-point effort is his second-straight 20-point plus outing, and the fourth in his last seven games.
Kimar Williams also had another solid outing in the backcourt with eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.
The Panthers (5-7) jumped out to as much as a 13-point lead, 22-9, with 11:38 left in the first half on a Williams's layup. Binghamton, however, would battle back and cut the lead to four twice in the first stanza. The first coming at the 3:35 mark of the first half, 28-24, on a three-point shot by John Schurman, and the second with 2:49 left before the break, 30-26, when Justin McFadden connected on a driving layup.
FIU, however, would score four of the next five points to close out the half and enter the locker room with a 34-27 lead.
The Bearcats (2-9) would only threaten FIU once in the second half cutting the lead to four points, 39-35, on a three-point jumper by Marlon Beck II with 16:19 left in the game. That would be as close as Binghamton would get the rest of the way.
The Panthers would eventually extend their lead to as many as 19 points, 63-44, with 4:35 on the clock when McGill would connect on a layup.
FIU shot 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the field, for the game, and 60 percent (12-of-20) in the second half. The Panthers also dominated the glass, out-rebounding Binghamton, 45-26, and in the paint outscoring the Bearcats, 46-16.
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/.
