RUSTON, La.  (Feb. 14, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team (12-13, 5-7) fell to the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs on Saturday night at the Thomas Assembly Center by a score of 75-42. With the loss, FIU falls to 3-5 all-time against the LA Tech. FIU turned the ball over 27 times against a very aggressive Bulldog defense.

Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz posted his fifth career double-double, tallying 11 points and grabbing 10 rebounds while blocking three shots in the loss. Senior Dennis Mavin tied for the team lead in scoring, as he chipped in 11 points, while junior Tashawn Desir added six points. Senior Kris Gulley grabbed nine rebounds in the first half.

FIU's defense held strong in the early stages, as the Panthers led 4-2 at the 15:43 mark when Diaz cashed in on his second basket. The Hialeah native was responsible for FIU's first six points as he put the Panthers ahead 6-4 at the 13:35 mark. The Bulldogs scored the next four points to make it 8-6 before sophomore Dominique Williams made one of two from the charity stripe to make it a one-point game. Sophomore Jason Boswell hit a jumper at the 10:17 mark and Diaz made two free throws to give the Panthers an 11-10 lead with 9:08 to go.

For the rest of the first half, LA Tech's defense was dominant, outscoring the Panthers 16-5 in the final 8:57. Trailing 16-11, Mavin converted his first field of the game with 7:03 to go in the first stanza to trim the Bulldog lead to three. LA Tech went on a 10-0 run to lead 26-13 before Mavin ended the drought with 30 seconds to go. FIU went into the locker room trailing 26-15.

Gulley came out and hit a three while Diaz made a field goal in the beginning of the second half, but the Bulldogs answered with 10 points to open on a 10-5 run. Desir then scored the next five points on a three as the shot clock expired and a floater, as FIU trialed 36-25 with 14:31 to go. Eight of the next 12 points in the game came from Xavian Stapleton of LA Tech, who made two threes and threw down a dunk to make it 46-27 with 12:34 remaining, forcing a timeout from FIU Head Coach Anthony Evans.

Mavin scored FIU's next seven points on a three-point play and another pair of field goals as FIU trailed 51-34 with 8:34 to go. From there, the Bulldogs strung together a 24-8 run to close the game, resulting in a 75-42 final score.
FIU returns to action on Thursday as it hosts Rice at 8 p.m. ET on the American Sports Network.

Fans are encouraged to follow @FIUMensBBall 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 Ocean Bank Field at FIU Stadium.

About FIU: Florida International University is recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers more than 180 bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida's anchor institutions, FIU contributes $9.8 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded over 200,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and has over 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.