Box Score MIAMI (Dec. 6, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team closed out its four-game home stand with a heartbreaking 84-76 overtime loss to Florida Gulf Coast University on Sunday on Lime Court at FIU Arena. The loss drops the Panthers to 4-5 on the season.
 
Adrian Diaz led four players in double figures, scoring a team-high 19 points. Jason Boswell and Donte Mcgill each added 13 points apiece, and Daviyon Draper chipped in with 10 points.
 
Diaz also grabbed nine rebounds, blocked seven shots, and equaled his career-high for steals, with three, in 40 minutes of action.
 
FGCU (5-4) took as much as a five-point lead, twice in the first half, the latter of which came on a Zach Johnson layup with just over 4:12 minutes left before the intermission.
 
The Eagles, however, could not pull away, allowing FIU to battle back, and gain momentum, with a 13-3 run to close out the half and take a 40-35 lead into the locker room at the break. During that run, which lasted the final 3:51 of the half, the Panthers were a perfect 3-of-3 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
FIU continued attacking in the second stanza, scoring 14 of the first 20 points en route to its biggest lead of the day, 54-41, when Diaz took a pass from Mcgill and converted the layup.
 
FGCU would cut the lead to seven, 54-47, only to let the Panthers get the lead back to 13 points, 60-47, and seemingly regain control on another Diaz layup, this time off an assist from Kimar Williams with 10:13 left in regulation.
 
The Eagles, however, would stage a furious comeback – a 14-0 run – over the next 2:32 to take the lead, 61-60, with 7:41 left on the clock, on a layup by Cameron Terrell.
 
The two exchanged leads for the next six minutes until Draper put the Panthers up four, 71-67, with two free throws with 1:41 left in regulation.
 
FGCU came right back and cut the lead in half, 71-69, on the next possession and then tied the game at 71-all on a dunk by Demetris Morant with seven seconds left, sending the game into overtime.
 
The Eagles took control of the extra session quickly, scoring the first 10 points, before Diaz got the Panthers back on the board, with five seconds left in the game on a dunk.
 
But Diaz's dunk, and three-point shot by Boswell, would not be enough as FGCU would hit three of its four attempts from the charity stripe down the stretch.
 
The Panthers would finish the game shooting 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field on the day, and 42.9 percent (6-of-14) from behind the three-point arc.
 
With FIUs recent four-game home stand complete, the Panthers will now begin a three-game road stretch at North Florida on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. FIU will then 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.
 
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/.