BOCA RATON, Florida (January 7, 2017) – A furious second-half comeback fell short for the FIU men's basketball team on Saturday as Florida Atlantic handed the Panthers a 73-64 loss at FAU Arena.

Michael Kessens poured in 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, both game highs, for his seventh double-double in a Panthers' uniform and the 20th of his career. Eric Nottage also scored 11 points in the loss.

After trailing by as many as 15 points with 10:48 on the clock in the second half, FIU cut the Owls' lead to four points, 64-60, when Nottage converted two free throws with 3:54 left in the game.

Kessens scored four of his 21 points and Michael Douglas added three of his six points during the comeback run.

The Panthers (4-12, 0-3 C-USA) were unable to get any closer as FAU scored nine of the final 13 points of the contest.

The Owls (5-9, 1-2 C-USA) used 48.3 percent (14-of-29) shooting from the field in the first half to take a 10-point lead into the locker room at the break. FAU led by as many as 11 points during the first 20 minutes of play, with that advantage coming with 5:30 left in the half on a two free throws by Nick Rutherford.

FAU came out after the intermission and extended its lead to 14 points, 48-34, on a layup by Rutherford with 16:49 left in the game.

The Panthers shot 39.6 percent (21-of-53) from the field on the afternoon and just 18.2 percent (2-of-11) from behind the three-point arc.

The Owls, however, shot 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor and took advantage of 16 FIU miscues leading to 23 points.

FIU now heads to the Lone Star State for the only time this year to face UTEP on Jan. 12 (9 p.m. ET) and UTSA on Jan. 14 (4 p.m. ET).

The Panthers don't return home to Lime Court at FIU Arena until 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/.