MIAMI, Fla. – The FIU men's basketball team came away with a 95-74 victory over Florida National on Thursday evening inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center, seeing four Panthers finish in double figures led by
Javaunte Hawkins with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
The Panthers (2-0) finished the contest shooting 52.9 percent (36-of-68), including draining 10-of-26 from 3-point range (38.5%), while 12 different Panthers scored in the contest.
Hawkins added three assists and a steal while freshman
Arturo Dean finished with 14 points, four rebounds and two assists and steals apiece.
Denver Jones added 12 points two rebounds and three assists, followed by
John Williams Jr. with 10 points, two assists and two steals.
Freshman
Jayden Brewer and sophomore
Mohamed Sanogo both reached new career-highs with eight points each, while Brewer added three steals and two assists. Sanogo also provided four rebounds and two blocks.
FIU's bench amassed 53 points total to FNU's two for the contest, while dishing 22 assists as a team.
Petar Krivokapic provided seven points, four rebounds and two assists, followed by an all-around effort from
Nick Guadarrama with six points and team-highs of seven rebounds and four assists.
Dashon Gittens recorded five points and three assists, while
Seth Pinkney and
Jaden Grant added four points apiece.
Dante Wilcox also tallied six rebounds and two points.
The Panthers' swarming defensive pressure was able to tally 19 points off 19 Florida National turnovers throughout the contest, as FIU opened the contest hot hitting 52.9 percent of its looks (18-of-34), including six threes as a 42.9 percent clip, behind nine different scorers to bust a 49-25 lead by halftime.
Both teams would trade baskets the entire second half, seeing the Panthers reach leads as large as 31 points early in the second half to ultimately hold off a hot-shooting Conquistadors squad that shot 51.4 percent (18-for-35) and poured in 49 points over the final frame to secure the 95-74 victory at home.
Additionally, the Panthers finished with the edge in rebounds, 42-37, while continuing to keep a steady presence at the rim tallying 48 points inside the paint to FNU's 28.
POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE - Head Coach
Jeremy Ballard,
Javaunte Hawkins and
Mohamed Sanogo:
UP NEXT:
FIU will travel to Raleigh, North Carolina for a matchup with the ACC's North Carolina State at PNC Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Tipoff is slated for a 7 p.m. start to be broadcast on Regional Sports Networks (RSN).
SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans are encouraged to follow the Panthers on Instagram
(@FIUHoops), Twitter
(@FIUHoops), and Facebook (
Facebook.com/FIUMensBball) for all the latest Men's Basketball news.
General athletic news can also be found at
@FIUSports on Facebook and
@FIUAthletics on Twitter and Instagram.
