MIAMI (Jan. 7 2016) – Donte McGill hit a three-point shot with 38 seconds left, and
Eric Nottage made two free-throws, to cap a 13-2 run over the final 3:26, as FIU stunned Western Kentucky with a 75-72 come-from-behind win, Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.
Daviyon Draper tied his career high by scoring 21 points, while McGill and
Adrian Diaz added 16 points apiece in the win. Nottage also chipped in with 14 points, one shy of tying his career-high.
The Panthers (8-7, 2-0 Conference USA) trailed by as many as 11 points, twice in the second half, first at 58-47 with 10:09 left in the contest, and then again, 68-57, when Chris McNeal hit a three-point shot with 5:33 left in the game.
FIU got the lead down to four points, 72-68, on a trey by Nottage with 2:29 left, and then Diaz hit two free-throws with 1:09 left to cut WKU's edge to two, 72-70.
The Panthers, who pride themselves on defense, forced the Hilltoppers (8-7, 0-2 Conference USA) into two miscues in the final 58 seconds, the first of which led to McGill's go-ahead three-pointer.
FIU shot 50 percent (26-of-52) from the field on the night, however the big story was the Panthers' 94.4 percent (17-of-18) performance from the free-throw line, including Diaz' 8-of-8 from the charity stripe and McGill's 5-of-5.
Draper kept the Panthers in the game in the first half scoring 14-of-his 21 points in the first stanza, which proved to be big with Diaz only playing nine minutes due to foul trouble.
McGill started slowly but started to get going at the end of the first half, netting six of FIU's final 10 points before the break.
FIU now heads to Huntington, W.Va. where it will face Marshall on Saturday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
The Panthers will return home, to Lime Court at FIU Arena, on Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. to take on Louisiana Tech, and then Southern Miss on Jan. 16 at 7 p.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/.
