MIAMI (December 21, 2016) – If the FIU men's basketball team was looking for a little shot of holiday cheer it certainly got that on Wednesday night as it put together its best 40 minutes of basketball during the entire season, with a convincing 78-54 win over North Florida to close out its 2016-17 non-conference slate.
The Panthers, who picked up some much-needed confidence and momentum going into their short holiday break, and then the beginning of Conference USA play soon after that, improve to 4-9 on the year and snap a five-game losing streak. The Ospreys drop to 4-11 on the year.
FIU placed four players in double figures, led by
Elmo Stephen's 15 points off the bench. Stephen was 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) from the field and including 2-of-4 (50 percent) from behind the three-point arc. The senior forward spearheaded the Panthers offensive attack that saw them shoot 50 percent (30-of-60) from the field and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from three-point range on the night.
Joining Stephen in double figures was
Donte McGill with 13 points,
Eric Nottage with 11 points and
Michael Kessens with 10 points. In all, nine of the 11 players that saw the court tonight ended up in the scoring column.
The Panthers got out of the gate quickly and only allowed UNF to lead for 18 seconds the entire night, with that advantage coming in the first minute of play.
Stephen and Mike Douglas led a 14-0 run that helped FIU push its lead to double figures and never allowed the Ospreys back into the contest. During the run Stephen and Douglas accounted for 12 of the 14 points with Douglas' back-to-back treys giving the Panthers a 17-point advantage, 30-13, with 7:08 left in the half.
FIU eventually took a 43-26 lead into the locker room at the break.
North Florida proved to be no match for the Panthers in the second half as they led by as many as 28 points – also a season-high – on a Stephen layup with 6:21 left to make the score 71-43.
On the night, FIU outrebounded UNF 44-26, including 15-9 on the offensive glass leading to 21 second chance points. In addition, the Panthers controlled the play in the paint, outscoring the Ospreys 30-12 in the lane and held the advantage in bench scoring, 40-19, thanks to Stephen, Nottage and eight points from Douglas.
The Panthers will now have a few days off for the holidays. When it returns, FIU will close out its current five-game homestand as it opens Conference USA play against Marshall on Dec. 31 (1 p.m.) and WKU on Jan. 2 (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/.
