MOBILE, ALABAMA (November 19, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team didn't have time to dwell on its tough 69-64 overtime loss on Friday night to South Alabama on the first day of the Red Diamond Roundball Classic. The Panthers, who had a quick turnaround with an 11:30 a.m. Central time tip on Saturday, couldn't get over the hump and back into the win column dropping a second-straight overtime contest to in-state foe Jacksonville, 78-75.
The loss was the third-straight for FIU with the Panthers dropping to 1-3 on the year. The Dolphins improve to 3-1.
Donte McGill led FIU with a team-high 23 points, including 19 in the second half, while
Michael Kessens added 19 points and
Kimar Williams had 10. Kessens also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in the loss.
The Panthers got out of the gate slowly to start the game as Jacksonville jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead to start the contest. After Kessens scored the first basket of the game, the Panthers would not hit another field goal until
Anthony Boswell drained a three-point shot from the top of the key with 11:10 left in the half to cut the Dolphins' lead to 14-9.
FIU would finally find its groove offensively going on its own 10-0 run to get as close as two points, 21-19, in back of four points apiece from Mike Douglas and
Eric Nottage and a dunk by
Richard Bivens during the nearly five minute run. Jacksonville, however, would get the lead back to six at the intermission, 35-29.
In the second half, the Panthers took the lead for the first time since Kessens' opening field goal of the game when McGill hit a driving layup with 14:23 left in regulation to make the score 44-43. That layup would be two of the 10 points – and two of eighth-straight – that McGill would hit during a 13-point stretch. FIU would eventually push its lead to a game-high nine points, 52-43, on a jumper by
Eric Lockett with 11:14 left.
McGill continued to have the hot hand scoring six of the team's final 10 points during the last five minutes of the regulation, including a three-pointer to give the Panthers a two-point lead, 70-68, with 47 seconds remaining on the clock.
FIU looked to have the game in hand, up 70-68 with time running out, however a foul called on Lockett who was defending Jacksonville's Darien Fernandez 35-feet from the basket – and moving away from the goal – put the 5-foot-8 guard at the line where he hit the two free throws to tie the game and send the contest to an extra session.
Neither team would shoot well in the final five minutes with the Panthers shooting 2-of-8 (25 percent) and Jacksonville hitting at a 33.3 percent clip (1-of-3). The Dolphins, however, were a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe while FIU was just 1-of-2 from the line in overtime.
FIU closes out the three-day Red Diamond Roundball Classic on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Eastern time when it faces Youngstown State, which features the nation's leading scorer in Cameron Morse who came into Saturday averaging 33.5 points-per-game.
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/.
