MIAMI (Feb. 5, 2014) – UTSA's Keon Lewis scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to erase an FIU halftime lead as the Panthers (11-11, 4-5 C-USA) suffered a 74-63 loss to the Roadrunners (11-10, 5-5 C-USA) on Thursday night at Lime Court at FIU Arena.
 
Redshirt junior Adrian Diaz led all Panthers with 22 points on 11-of-17 shooting. The 6-foot-11 center also record 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Diaz also registered a career-high eight blocks, tying the FIU school record for blocked shots in a game (Rakeem Buckles vs. Stetson – Nov. 18, 2013; David Gregg vs. UMES – Jan. 3, 1989). With the eight blocks on the night, Diaz now ranks tied for second all-time for blocked shots in a season with 58 (Jabahri Brown – 1999-00). Senior Dennis Mavin also reached double-figures in scoring 15 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the floor. Junior Daviyon Draper and senior Kris Gulley had nine rebounds each, as the FIU forwards scored eight and nine points, respectively.
 
The Panthers got off to a slow start shooting just 33.0 perfect (2-of-6) through the first media timeout. The Roadrunners began the game on a 7-0 run, before Diaz made the FIU's first basket of the game at the 16:55 mark. Trailing 10-4 out of the first media timeout, FIU went on a 7-3 run to pull within two, 13-11, following a layup by Diaz with 12:38 left in the first half.
 
The Panthers took their first lead of the game, 17-15, following back-to-back threes by Rodriguez with 10:40 on the clock.  FIU added two more points with a bucket by Draper for a 19-15 lead at the 9:23 mark.  Over the next 4:59, FIU went on a 14-5 run to take the largest lead of the half (13), 33-20, as Mavin hit a jumper at the 2:59 mark. Shooting 56 percent from the floor (15-of-27), FIU went in the locker room up 35-26 at half.
 
Mavin led all Panthers with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting followed by Diaz with eight. The Miami native also grabbed five rebounds and blocked four shots. Gulley and Draper had a game-high six rebounds each.  
 
UTSA came out of the break on a 7-2 run to cut FIU's lead to 39-33 with 15:29 left to play. The Roadrunners spent the next 2:40 chipping away at the FIU lead, out-scoring the Panthers, 9-2. The run cut FIU's lead to 43-42 with 11:49 left on the clock, forcing Head Coach Anthony Evans to call a time out.
 
UTSA took its first lead, 45-43, since leading 15-14 (11:07) in the first half with a 3-point basket by Keon Lewis at the 11:22 mark.  The Roadrunners maintained their lead, extending it to a then-game-high nine points, 67-58, following trey by Ryan Bowie with 4:03 left in the game.  A layup by Lewis made it an 11-point deficit, 69-58, with 3:08 left in the game.  UTSA held onto its lead for the remainder of the game, downing FIU, 74-63.
 
For the game FIU shot 51.9 percent from the floor (27-of-52) and 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (3-of-9), while UTSA converted 38.7 percent from the field (24-of-62) and 36.0 percent from 3-point range (9-of-25).  The Roadrunners made 17-of-23 from the charity stripe (73.9 percent) as the Panthers went 6-of-10 (60.0 percent).
 
FIU held a 38-31 edge on the boards, but committed 26 turnovers that resulted in 30 points for UTSA.

GAME NOTES: FIU recorded nine blocks as a team, a season-high for the Panthers…Kris Gulley reached the 300-point plateau for his career…Gulley also reached the 200 rebound mark for his career with his 9 rebounds in the game, a season-high for him…Adrian Diaz set a new career-high in blocks with eight, tying the program record with Rakeem Buckles, who had eight swats vs. Stetson (11/18/13) and David Gregg who did the same vs. UMES (1/3/89)…Diaz has 30 blocks over the last seven games, an average of 4.2-blocks per contest.

The Panthers will next host the UTEP Miners on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. from Lime Court at FIU Arena, and the game will be broadcast on the American Sports Network.
 
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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 offer 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 $8.9 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/.