MIAMI (March 5, 2016) – The FIU men's basketball team was hoping to close out its 2015-16 regular season schedule on a winning note and gain some momentum, and the feeling of a fresh start, heading into the Conference USA Tournament next week in Birmingham, Ala. But, Middle Tennessee – and Jaqawn Raymond in particular – had other ideas as the Blue Raiders handed the Panthers a heartbreaking 61-58 loss on Lime Court at FIU Arena on Saturday night.
With the game tied at 58-all, Raymond took a pass from Perrin Buford and drained a corner three-point shot with 1.8 second left on the clock to hand the Panthers their second-straight loss.
The setback drops FIU to 13-18 on the year and 7-11 in C-USA. Middle Tennessee improves to 21-9 and 13-5 in league play.
Elmo Stephen led four Panthers in double figures with 14 points, while
Daviyon Draper chipped in with 13 points and
Donte McGill added 11 points in the loss.
Adrian Diaz rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Both Draper and Diaz were honored prior to the game during Senior Night ceremonies.
Neither team led by more than six points in the first half as Middle Tennessee took a 35-31 into the locker room at the break.
The Blue Raiders came out in the second half and took its biggest lead of the game, seven points, 47-40, on the first of two free throws by Buford with 13:23 left in the game.
The Panthers kept in striking distance through the final 13 minutes of the game, never trailing by more than five points the rest of the way, and tied the game twice in the final 10 minutes of play, but could not get over the hump.
The second of the two ties came when Stephen scored on a driving layup with 2:40 left. Unfortunately for FIU that would the last time it moved its side of the scoreboard.
The Panthers had one last opportunity to take the lead when McGill missed a three-point shot with 10 seconds left on the clock. The Blue Raiders got the rebound which led to Raymond's heroics.
FIU finished the game shooting 38.3 percent (19-of-49) from the field while the Blue Raiders hit 40.8 percent (20-of-49) of its shots from the floor.
FIU will now head to the Conference USA Tournament at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala., March 8-14. Game times and seedings are still to be determined.
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/.
