ELON, North Carolina (November 30, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team had its short two-game winning streak snapped with a heartbreaking 84-81 overtime loss to Elon on Wednesday night in front of a near capacity crowd at Alumni Memorial Gym. The game, the first of a three-game road stretch, and the first on the Panthers' two-game road trip, drops FIU to 3-5 on the year, while the Phoenix improve to 6-1. 

Donte McGill poured in a game-high 27 points, including 23 in the second half, and Michael Kessens had a record-breaking performance with an FIU single-game mark of 23 rebounds, surpassing the old record of 22, originally set by Carlton Phoenix against Northern Illinois on Feb. 23, 1987. Kessens also logged 17 points for the fourth double-double of his short FIU career and the 17th of his collegiate career.

In addition, Eric Nottage and Michael Douglas added 16 and 11 points, respectively in the loss.

Trailing by seven, 64-57 with 3:09 left in regulation, Nottage took control for the Panthers scoring the final 12 points for FIU, including the game-tying three-point shot as time expired and falling out of bounds. Nottage hit the shot after missing his three-point attempt seconds before and getting his own rebound on the other side of the lane.

The Panthers fell behind by as many as nine points to start the game, 17-8, with 10:23 left before the intermission. FIU, however, would battle back using a 14-5 run – that included a 12-0 stretch – to take a 23-22 lead on a layup by McGill with 5:44 left in the stanza.

On the next possession, FIU would take its biggest lead of the half, 26-22, on the second of two made three-point shots by Mike Douglas with 4:53 left before the intermission.

The Phoenix, however, used their own 12-4 run to regain the advantage and take a 34-30 lead into the locker room at the break.

During the first 20 minutes, Kessens established his double-double with 10 points, on 5-of-7 shooting, and 14 rebounds.

Elon came out in the second half and looked like they were going to run away with the game, extending its advantage to a game-high 19 points, 53-34, with 15:22 left.

FIU would not go quietly as it ran off the next 15 points and held the Phoenix scoreless for nearly seven minutes and cutting the Elon lead to two, 53-51, on two made free throws by McGill with 8:58 left.

The Panthers cut the lead down to one on a McGill jumper with 8:09 left, making the score 54-53, but could not get any closer until Nottage's heroics as time expired.

In the extra session, FIU tied the game at 72-all, however could not get over the hump and into the lead as the Phoenix outscored the Panthers 17-14 in overtime.

On the night, the Panthers shot 38.7 percent (29-of-75) from the field and an impressive 88.9 percent (16-of-18) from the charity stripe, their best performance from the line on the year, and their best since hitting 94.4 percent (17-of-18) from the line at WKU on Jan. 7, 2016.

FIU now heads to South Carolina (Dec. 4, 2 p.m.) for a date against the Gamecocks and FIU alum – and South Carolina Head Coach – Frank Martin, '93. The Panthers close out their road stretch at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 11 at 8:15 p.m.

FIU will not return home until it begins a season-long, five-game stretch at FIU Arena, starting on Dec. 15 against Georgia Southern 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/.