DELAND, FLORIDA (November 14, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team took its show on the road for the first time this season, tipping off a season-long stretch of four-consecutive road games against a familiar in-state foe, Stetson University. The Hatters, however, were not such gracious hosts, handing the Panthers their first loss of the season, 82-67, at the J. Ollie Edmunds Center in DeLand.
FIU placed four players in double figures on the night.
Eric Nottage led the Panthers with a career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from both behind the three-point arc and free throw line.
Donte McGill added 14 points and
Michael Kessens recorded his first double-double in an FIU uniform with an 11-point, 13 rebound effort.
Eric Lockett netted a career-high 10 points in the loss.
Despite shooting 51.9 percent (28-of-54) from the field and 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from three-point range, the Panthers could not overcome Stetson's blistering 59.3 percent (16-of-27) shooting from long-range and 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the floor.
The Panthers led early on in the game only to have the Hatters take control in the first half behind 51.7 percent (15-of-29) shooting from the field and a 56.3 percent (9-of-16) clip from behind the three-point arc.
FIU hit 50 percent of its shots (14-of-28) from the floor, however, were hampered by 11 first half turnovers that led to a 20-8 points-off-turnover advantage for Stetson.
Donte McGill and
Michael Kessens scored 17 of the Panthers' 29 points in the first 20 minutes, while Kessens also grabbed eight rebounds.
The Hatters came out in the second half on a 17-9 run through the first 4:41 of play, hitting six of its seven shots and all four treys to take a 57-38 lead.
Stetson did not look back the rest of the game as the Hatters extended their lead to as many as 24 points in the second half.
The Panthers controlled the boards outrebounding Stetson, 32-21, including an 8-2 margin on the offensive glass, but the Hatters forced FIU into 20 turnovers, which led to 30 points.
Up next, the Panthers will travel to Mobile, Alabama, where they will take part in the 2016 Red Diamond Roundball Classic, hosted by the University of South Alabama. During the three-day event, FIU will face the host Jaguars (Nov. 18, 8:05 p.m. ET), Jacksonville (Nov. 19, 12:30 p.m. ET) and Youngstown State (Nov. 20, 1:30 p.m. ET). FIU will not return to Lime Court at FIU Arena until Nov. 23 when it butt heads with Ave Maria at 7 p.m.
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/.
