MIAMI (March 5, 2015) – The FIU men's basketball team (14-16, 7-10) outscored Middle Tennessee 35-24 in the second half to earn a hard-fought 59-54 victory on Thursday night on Lime Court at FIU Arena. With the victory, the Panthers earn their eighth win all-time against the Blue Raiders.
 
FIU had three players score in double-figures, led by a 17-point and eight-rebound effort from redshirt junior Adrian Diaz, while swatting four shots to improve his program-record block total to 82 this season. Junior Daviyon Draper scored 14 points to mark his third-straight double-digit scoring effort while senior Dennis Mavin chipped in 12 points, five assists and two steals in 39 minutes of action. Sophomore Dominique Williams scored nine points and grabbed five boards off the bench.  
 
Both teams got off to shooting slumps, as the Blue Raiders were one for their first eight entering the first media timeout. FIU made two of its first eight attempts as a floater by Draper and a dunk by Diaz made it 5-3 in favor of the Panthers in the early stages. From there, Middle Tennessee strung together a 9-3 run, highlighted by five points from Jaqawn Raymond on a three and a dunk as the Blue Raiders led 12-8. The Panthers answered scoring nine of the next 11 to take a 17-14 lead, but the Blue Raiders closed the half on a 16-7 run, with Giddy Potts scoring 11 of those points. Middle Tennessee led at the half 30-24.
 
Despite the Blue Raiders scoring first in the second half, FIU opened the second stanza outscoring Middle Tennessee 24-14 in the first 13 minutes.  After Draper made one free throw, Diaz answered with a hook shot in the lane at the 17:46 mark to make it 34-27 in favor of Middle Tennessee. The Hialeah native then converted a three-point play to cut the lead to four. A field goal from Williams made it a two-point game. Following a Middle field goal, the Panthers put together a 6-0 run to take a 40-36 lead.
 
FIU maintained the four-point edge when Williams hit a jumper at the 9:11 mark to make it 44-40. Diaz increased the lead to five with 8:19 to go. Nearly three minutes later, FIU didn't let the lead escape as Diaz sank two free throws to make it a four-point Panther advantage. The Blue Raiders answered with a small 4-0 run to tie the game up at 52 with 4:21 remaining before Draper hit a jumper with two minutes to go to make it 54-52. Mavin made two key free throws with one minute flat to increase the lead to four. The Blue Raiders sank two free throws with 19 seconds to go, but Mavin answered on the other end to make it a three-point game with 17 seconds remaining. After Draper took a key charge, Rodriguez made two more from the charity stripe on the other end, resulting in a 59-54 victory for the Panthers.
 
The Panthers close out the regular season this Saturday with an 8 p.m. home matchup with the UAB Blazers on the American Sports Network.
 
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