Game Details
FIU 89, Charlotte 83  
FIU (14-16, 8-9 C-USA), Charlotte (6-22, 1-16 C-USA)
Charlotte, North Carolina | Halton Arena
 
MIAMI (March 1, 2018) – FIU rallied past Charlotte late in the second half Thursday night to secure an 89-83 win at Halton Arena in Charlotte.
 
The Panthers improved to 14-16 on the season, 8-9 in Conference USA play. The 49ers fell to 5-23 overall and 1-16 in league play.
 
FIU outscored Charlotte 11-4 in the final 2:47 of the game for the comeback victory.
 
Down 79-78, FIU guard Brian Beard, Jr.'s layup put the Panthers ahead to stay. Beard, Jr. scored nine of FIU's 11 points in the final 2:47.
 
Beard, Jr. had 23 points second only to Eric Lockett's team-high 24 points. Lockett sparked FIU in the first half with a team-high 14 points in the first 20 minutes. Trejon Jacob also netted double figures with 17 points while Michael Douglas added 10. Jay Harvey grabbed a game- and career-high nine rebounds.

Key to FIU's rally was Beard, Jr.'s steady shot at the charity stripe. The point guard knocked down 10 of 11 free throws. Beard, Jr. also notched a team-high four steals and handed out a team-high six assists. With his four steals, Beard, Jr. became FIU's single-season leader with 88 on the year. He surpassed the 87 steals set by Carlos Morban during the 2001-02 campaign.
 
The Panthers defense fortified down the stretch forcing the 49ers to miss six of eight shots, including five three-point misses.
 
Charlotte guard Jon Davis led all scorers with 37 points but the 49ers leading scorer missed four three-pointers in the final three minutes.
 
FIU outshot Charlotte from the field. The Panthers hit 48.3 percent of their shots compared to the 49ers 42.6 percent. FIU also hit 43.5 percent from beyond the arc while Charlotte connected on 40 percent of its threes.
   
Notable
- Tonight's starters for FIU were: G Trejon Jacob, G Brian Beard, Jr., G Eric Lockett, F Michael Douglas, and F Jay Harvey … The Panthers are 3-0 with this starting five.
 
- FIU's win over Charlotte evens the all-time series between the two schools at 3-3 … The victory also sweeps the season series after defeating the 49ers, 90-85, on Jan. 25 in Miami.
 
- FIU's 89 points is the most points scored since netting 91 points against Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 19.
 
- With his team-high 24 points, G Eric Lockett has scored double-figures in 27 games during his career with FIU, and in 25 of the last 33 games dating back to last season … Lockett's point total marks his seventh game of 20-or-more points.
 
- Brian Beard, Jr. netted double-digits in the scoring column for the 27^th time in 29 games played with his 23 points against Charlotte ... It's Beard, Jr.'s eighth 20-point game of his FIU career.
 
- G Trejon Jacob netted double-figures for the 24^th time this season with his 17 points.
 
- F Michael Douglas nets 10 points against the 49ers, for his ninth double-figure scoring game of the season.
 
Up Next
The Panthers conclude the regular season on Feb. 3, when FIU travels to Norfolk, Virginia, to face Old Dominion at 7 p.m. Following Saturday's contest the Panthers will head to Frisco, Texas, for the 2018 C-USA Basketball Championships presented by Baylor Scott & White Sports Performance Center at The Star.

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