EL PASO, Texas (January 12, 2017) – The FIU men's basketball team placed six players in double figures and overcame a 14-point second half deficit with less than eight minutes left in regulation to take the lead, however the Panthers could not hold on as UTEP escaped with an 88-87 double overtime win on Thursday night at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

The Miners' Dominic Artis drained a shot from just inside the three-point line, for two of his 18 points, as time expired after two Panthers deflected the inbounds pass but could not control the ball.

Kimar Williams scored a team-high 16 points, all coming in the second half, and Michael Kessens added 15 points before fouling out of the game with 2:24 left in regulation. Eric Nottage and Hassan Hussein each scored 13 points in the loss, with Hussein's point total marking a career-high. Eric Lockett tied his career-high with 12 points and Elmo Stephen added 10 points.

FIU (4-13, 0-4 Conference USA) led at the half, 33-30, however UTEP (3-13, 1-3 C-USA) put together an 18-0 run that would last almost six minutes to take its largest advantage of the contest, 14 points, when Paul Thomas hit a jumper with 7:26 left in regulation to make the score 59-45.

After falling behind, the Panthers started to chip away at the Miners' lead and eventually mustered their own 9-0 run that began with back-to-back three-point shots by Nottage with 5:39 left to cut the lead to 61-52, and then by Williams on the next possession to get the UTEP lead to six, 61-55, with 4:54 left.

After Williams connected on the first of two free throws, Lockett closed out the run with a jump shot with 3:17 left in regulation to cut the lead to three, 61-58.

The Miners seemingly had the game in control with 1:51 left when Omega Harris put UTEP up by five, 65-60, however, FIU scored six of the next seven points, including a Williams layup with 21 seconds left to tie the game at 66-all at the end of regulation.

In the first overtime session, the Panthers held a four-point lead, 74-70, with 1:44 left when Nottage drained a deep trey, then the Miami native hit another three-pointer with 20 seconds left to put the Panthers up 77-73. This time it was the Miners' turn to send the game into an extra five minutes when Artis hit two free throws with nine seconds left to knot the contest, once again, at 77.

In double overtime, the Panthers found themselves leading for all but 26 seconds, which included a four-point advantage with 46 seconds left when Nottage scored on a driving layup to make the score 87-83. That was the last time that the Panthers would find the scoring column.

Artis drained a three-point shot with 34 seconds left to cut the FIU lead to one, 87-86, and then the Miners took advantage of a Panthers' turnover and an offensive rebound on a missed shot that led to Artis' game-winner.

FIU now heads to San Antonio to face UTSA on Saturday, Jan. 14 at 4 p.m. (ET).

The Panthers return home to Lime Court at FIU Arena on Jan. 19 when they face defending Conference USA Tournament champion Middle Tennessee (7 p.m.) and UAB on Jan. 21 (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/.