FORT MYERS, Florida (December 11, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team traveled across Interstate 75 and Alligator Alley to face Florida Gulf Coast in its final road game of its non-conference schedule, looking to pick up a big win and to gain confidence going into its season-long five-game homestand beginning on Dec. 15 against Georgia Southern. Unfortunately for the Panthers, the Eagles had other ideas, handing FIU an 82-63 loss Sunday night in front of a crowd of 3,112 at Alico Arena.
The loss drops the Panthers to 3-7 on the year while FGCU improves to 7-3.
Donte McGill led FIU with a game-high 25 points and
Michael Kessens added 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
Kimar Williams chipped in with eight points, four rebounds, four assists and a career-high-tying four steals off the bench.
The Eagles got out of the gate quickly scoring the first nine points of the game, before
Eric Nottage took a pass from
Michael Kessens and scored on a layup with 14:45 left in the half.
FIU cut the FGCU lead to seven, 11-4, on a jumper by
Michael Douglas as time on the shot clock ran out with 12:53 left in the half, but that would be as close as the Panthers would get during the first 20 minutes of action.
After the Eagles extended their lead to as many as 20 points, 33-13, with 6:10 left in the first stanza, FIU looked to get the FGCU lead to under 10 before the break, however, could only cut the edge to 14, 41-27, on a layup by Kessens for two of his 10 first half points.
The Eagles shot 57.1 percent (16-of-28) from the floor in the first half while the Panthers hit at just a 39.1 percent (9-of-23) clip.
FGCU did not let up in the second half as it extended its lead to a game-high 27 points, 66-39, with 10:18 left, and used 59.3 percent (16-of-27) shooting in the final half to keep the game out of reach.
FIU shot just 37.9 percent (11-of-29) from the field in the second half and a mere 1-of-11 (9.1 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The Panthers finished the game hitting 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the field on the night.
FIU returns home to the friendly confines of Lime Court at FIU Arena where it begins a season-long, five-game stretch 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/.
