MOBILE, ALABAMA (November 18, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team got back to work on Friday night with the second game of a four-game road stretch coming against a familiar foe on the first day of the Red Diamond Roundball Classic in Mobile, Alabama … old Sun Belt Conference rival South Alabama. The Panthers tipped off the three-day event by dropping a heartbreaking 69-64 overtime decision to the host Jaguars in their first game of the weekend in front of 2,255 raucous fans at the Mitchell Center.
FIU drops its second-consecutive game and falls to 1-2 on the year, while South Alabama improves to 3-0.
The Panthers placed four players in double figures, led by
Eric Nottage's 18 points. It marked the second-straight game that Nottage has led FIU in scoring.
Michael Kessens added 12 points and
Kimar Williams and
Elmo Stephen chipped in with 11 points apiece.
Kessens also tied his career-high with 17 rebounds for his second double-double in a Panthers' uniform and the 15th of his career.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half, with the Panthers holding the biggest advantage, 10-4, when Nottage connected on a three-point play with 14:50 left in the half.
Both FIU and South Alabama played almost even basketball during the first 20 minutes of action, although it wasn't pretty on either end of the court offensively. The Panthers shot just 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from the field while the Jaguars weren't that much better, connecting at a 29 percent (9-of-31) clip from the floor.
FIU did manage a blistering 11-of-12 (91.7 percent) from the free throw line in the first stanza as both teams entered the locker room at the intermission tied at 26-all.
After each team went back-and-forth for the first 10 minutes of the second half, as Stephen caught fire for FIU and looked like he was about to break the game open for the Panthers. Stephen scored nine-straight points for FIU giving the Panthers what was their biggest lead of the game, 49-41, on a three-pointer with 8:31 remaining in regulation.
South Alabama closed out regulation on a 14-8 run that was capped by a Josh Ajayi tip in with six seconds remaining to tie the game at 57 apiece.
Nottage had a look at a three-point shot at the buzzer, but the attempt went off the rim.
After two halves of dead-even basketball, 26-all in the first half and 31-all in the second, the Jaguars outscored the Panthers 12-7 in the extra session behind Georgi Boyanov (six points) and Shaq Calhoun (five points) who netted 11 of South Alabama's 12 points in the overtime period. Nottage had five of his 18 points in overtime.
FIU finished the game shooting 36.8 percent (21-of-57) from the field and 81.8 percent (18-of-22) from the charity stripe on the night.
The Panthers also turned the ball over 19 times leading to 17 South Alabama points, while the Jaguars outscored FIU in the paint, 33-26.
The Panthers now have a quick turnaround as they return to the hardwood to face in-state foe Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. Eastern. FIU will close out the Red Diamond Roundball Classic on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. when it faces Youngstown State to finish the three-day event.
The Panthers will return to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Nov. 23 when they butt heads with Ave Maria in a pre-Thanksgiving tilt 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/.
