Game Details
FIU 81, Florida Gulf Coast 80
FIU (7-1), FGCU (2-7)
Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018 | 7:30 p.m.
Ft. Myers, Florida | Alico Arena
 
The Basics
- The FIU men's basketball team came from 15 points down in the first half to stun Florida Gulf Coast on Wednesday night at Alico Arena, 81-80, and in doing so improved to 7-1 on the year, the best start in school history. The Panthers also extend their winning streak to four games. The Eagles drop to 2-7 overall.
 
- Brian Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California) scored 19 of his game-high 21 points in the second half, including the game-winner on a fade-away three from the top of the three-point arc with 14 seconds remaining in the game after FGCU took the lead on the previous possession. After Beard, Jr.'s trey, the Eagles got the ball down low but FIU's Elhadji Dieng (Mbour, Senegal), playing with four fouls for most of the second half, came up with one of his many big defensive stops on the night to give the Panthers possession of the ball. FGCU had one last opportunity with a desperation shot, however the shot bounced off the rim, silencing the nearly 2,500 Eagles' faithful.
 
- FIU trailed by as many as 15 points, 39-24, with 5:08 left in the first half on a Haanif Cheatham three-pointer. The Panthers, however, closed out the first stanza on a 10-2 run, a run which included scoring the last seven points, to cut the Eagles' lead to seven at the intermission, 41-34. FIU shot 40.0 percent (14-for-35) from the floor in the first 20 minutes of play, but struggled from behind the three-point arc, shooting just 22.2 percent (4-for-18) in the first 20 minutes. In contrast, the Panthers were 13-for-17 (76.5 percent) from inside the three-point arc.
 
- FIU regrouped at the intermission and started the second half on a 16-4 run, which included an 8-0 run over a one minute, 24 second stretch, that was capped by back-to-back Beard, Jr. three-pointers to make the scored 50-45 FIU with 15:39 left in the game. The Panthers pushed the lead to as many as 10 points, 57-47, when Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio) hit a driving layup for two of his 15 points on the night with 13:56 left. FGCU got the FIU lead down to one, three times, the rest of the way but could not get over the hump until the Eagles' RaySean Scott drained a three following a Panthers' turnover with 42 seconds left to make the score 79-78 FGCU. Beard, Jr. missed a layup on the following possession, forcing FIU to foul with 27 seconds left and sending Cheatham to the line where he hit the front end of two free-throw attempts, but missed the second, to put the Eagles up one and leading to Beard. Jr.'s heroics.   
 
- In addition to Beard, Jr. and Andrews scoring in double figures, Willy Nunez, Jr. (Orlando, Florida) and Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina) chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively in the win. Andrews also grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to go along with a career-high four steals and a career-high tying four assists.
 
- FIU finished the night shooting 50.0 percent (32-for-64) from the floor and 36.4 percent (12-for-33) from behind the three-point arc.
 
Notable
- Tonight's starters for FIU were: G Trejon Jacob (Raleigh, North Carolina); G Brian  Beard, Jr. (Rancho Cucamonga, California); F Devon Andrews (Lorain, Ohio); F, Willy Nunez, Jr. (Orlando, Florida); and C Elhadji Dieng (Mbour, Senegal) … FIU is 1-0 with this lineup on the year.

- Brian Beard, Jr.'s 21 points marks his 36^th career double figure scoring game, and his 14^th-career 20-point effort.

- Willy Nunez, Jr.'s 14 points marks his ninth double-figure scoring performance in 14 career games for the Panthers.

- Trejon Jacob's 13 points marks his fourth double-figure scoring performance of the season and the 28^th of his FIU career. 



Up Next
The Panthers now travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to face Southeastern Conference foe, Arkansas on Dec. 1. Tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. ET and can be seen on SEC Network Plus.

FIU returns home on Dec. 13, for the first of three-straight games against Florida foes, beginning with North Florida (7 p.m.). The Panthers will also face USF on Dec. 18, and Florida Memorial on Dec. 20. Both games will also be at 7 p.m.

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