MIAMI (January 26, 2017) – The FIU men's basketball team couldn't carry over the momentum that it picked up after its big win against UAB on Saturday, as longtime conference rival Florida Atlantic handed the Panthers a 83-65 loss Thursday night on Lime Court at FIU Arena.   

Donte McGill led four players in double figures on the night for the Blue and Gold with 15 points while Michael Kessens added 14 points in the loss. Elmo Stephen and Eric Nottage each chipped in with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kessens grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, but fell one board shy of recording his eighth double-double of the season and the 21^st of his career.

The Panthers head into their bye weekend with a 5-16 overall record and a 1-7 mark in Conference USA. The Owls improve to 6-13 on the year and 2-6 in league play.

FIU led by as many as six points in the first half, 24-18, on the second of two-straight Hassan Hussein layups with 9:22 left before the intermission. The Owls, however, put together an 11-4 run to take the lead, 29-28, with 4:40 left in the half and eventually took a 40-35 advantage into the locker room at the break.

The Panthers came out in the second half and cut the FAU lead to one, 47-46, with 15:37 left in the game on a layup by McGill. That would be the last time that FIU held an advantage on the night.

After the McGill score, the Owls put together an 11-1 run to take a 57-48 lead with 11:49 left, and then extended that run to 19-3 as FAU blew the game open, pushing the advantage to 14 points, 65-51, on a Ronald Delph dunk with 8:58 left.

The Panthers never got the lead to below double figures the rest of the way.

Although four of FIU's five starters netted double figures, the Owls' bench outscored the Panthers' reserves 39-12 on the night. FAU also held the upper hand in transition, outscoring FIU in fast break points, 23-9. Hussein scored nine of the 12 points off the bench for FIU on 4-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.

The Panthers shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field, however just 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from behind the three-point arc, and an uncharacteristic 52.6 percent (10-of-19) from the charity stripe after coming into tonight's contest hitting 74.9 percent from the line, good enough for third in C-USA.

FAU, who didn't have a player averaging over 10 points-per-game on the season coming in, placed four players in double figures, led by Adonis Filer and Gerdarius Troutman who each scored 18 points apiece.

Following an off weekend in terms of games, FIU will hit the road for two-straight, beginning at Old Dominion on Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The Panthers will then travel to Charlotte to face the 49ers on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.

FIU will return home on Feb. 9 to take on Rice (7 p.m.) and North Texas on Feb. 11 (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).

#####
 
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/.