MIAMI, Fla. – The FIU men's basketball team posted a resilient effort in Sunday's FIU MTE Championship game against Eastern Washington, as six Panthers finished in double figures while holding off a threatening Eagles squad on 55.2 percent shooting and a season-high 20-of-22 performance from the line to secure a 90-79 victory and claim the FIU MTE crown inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. Sophomore
Denver Jones was named the Tournament MVP, while freshman
Arturo Dean was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The win moves FIU to 4-2 overall, as the Eagles drop to 2-5 on the season.
"I'm really proud of our team," said head coach
Jeremy Ballard. "Today was really an example of resiliency, responding … I think we might have led for the entire game but it certainly did not feel like that. And we came in here knowing that Eastern Washington is an unbelievably coached team … he's [David Riley] a great coach. Those guys believe in him and what they do and they're going to win a lot of games for years to come."
"Really proud of our effort. That was a great win," added Ballard. "We had lots of guys step up. Our freshmen really responded, played great games.
Mohamed Sanogo had maybe the best game of his career, including huge free throws down the stretch. So, I'm just so proud of that."
The Panthers turned out yet another efficient outing from the field, connecting on 32-of-58 shots from the floor (55.2%) for the contest. FIU has continued to pace a balanced attack, recording 46 of its 90 points for the night inside the paint, while hitting 31.6 percent of its tries from 3-point range on 6-of-19 shooting.
The stat of the night for the Panthers is undeniably their performance from the free-throw line, burying 90.9 percent of its attempts on 20-of-22 from the charity stripe – including 11-of-13 over the final 20 minutes to seal the deal - upon coming into the contest at 64.6 percent from the line on the season.
Conversely, free throws plagued the Eagles on the night with a 10-of-18 showing from the line (55.6%), despite finishing the contest 45.3 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from three on a season-best 11-of-27 shooting from distance.
First-year
Arturo Dean finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from the line, three rebounds and steals apiece and two assists. The Miami, Fla., native averaged 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals over the tournament's span to nab all-tournament team recognition.
Additionally, Dean leads the Conference USA in steals, averaging 2.6 per game with 16 total on the season.
Denver Jones followed with 16 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 outing from the free-throw line, in addition to team and season-highs of six rebounds and six assists apiece. Jones has been superb for the Panthers this season and even more so through the FIU MTE with averages of 21.5 points on 63.6 percent shooting, 45.5 percent from beyond the arc (5-of-11) and a perfect 9-for-9 from the line over two games.
The sophomore guard has been extremely efficient through six games, averaging 19.7 points (2
nd C-USA) on 61.2 percent shooting (2
nd C-USA), 42.9 percent from distance and 88.9 percent from the stripe (4
th C-USA).
Graduate guard
John Williams Jr. stuffed the stat sheet in his first start as a Panther, notching 13 points with season-highs of four rebounds, two assists and steals apiece and a block in 27 minutes. Sophomore
Mohamed Sanogo reached a new career-high for the third time this season, recording 11 points – including a career-best 3-for-4 from the stripe – three rebounds and a block.
Freshman
Dashon Gittens also added 11 points, two assists and two steals, while junior guard
Javaunte Hawkins rounds out the double-figure scorers with 11 points on 3-of-5 shooting from deep, two rebounds and a block and steal. Junior center
Seth Pinkney pitched in nine points, four rebounds and two blocks.
The Eagles converted 32 points off 20 FIU turnovers for the night, as Eastern Washington rallied behind the Panthers 12 second-half turnovers to come within as close as one point over the final 20 minutes.
Despite the miscues, the Panthers managed to lead for 39:43 of the contest, while receiving 30 points from their bench in comparison to Eastern Washington's 15.
FIU held a 48-35 edge at the half behind 60 percent shooting from the floor (18-of-30) and leads as large as 15 points through the opening 20 minutes. Eastern Washington came out the intermission spirted in scoring 13 of the opening 20 points in the frame to come within two possessions by the 15:31 mark, 53-48.
Scores from Sanogo,
Arturo Dean and a
Javaunte Hawkins three pushed the margin (60-51) prior to the Eagles rallying for a 10-2 run that brought the game within one, 62-61, with 11:14 remaining. The Panthers caught a second wind from there, seeing a
Dashon Gittens floater spark FIU to hit six of its next seven from the field to regain a 73-66 cushion. The Eagles answered with a 3-pointer, though, FIU rattled off a timely 9-0 run to regain a double-digit lead and force an Eastern Washington timeout trailing 82-69 by the 5:12 mark.
A Gittens and-one lay sparked the run, as Gittens ripped an Eagle for a breakaway dunk at 77-69.
Denver Jones delivered a behind-the-back pass to
John Williams Jr. for a three from the top of the key, while Jones finished a fast break layup to force the Eagles to talk things over.
The Eagles used a 10-0 run to swiftly erase the deficit with 2:15 to play, 82-79, though, the Panthers would thrive from the charity stripe to finish the contest in the bonus. Gittens hit a pair at the line, followed by a pair of free throws from
Mohamed Sanogo pushing the spread to 86-79 with 39 seconds remaining. On the ensuing inbound,
Arturo Dean came up with a big steal to be fouled, as the freshman knocked down a pair of timely free throws to ultimately seal the deal at 88-79 with 36 ticks on the clock.
FIU defended a desperation three from the Eagles, as
John Williams Jr. then put the nail in the coffin upon being brought to the line, allowing the Panthers to come away with the 90-79 win at the horn.
FIU MTE All-Tournament Team:
Denver Jones, FIU - Tournament MVP
Arturo Dean, FIU
Steele Venters, Eastern Wash.
Deon Stroud, Eastern Wash.
Keenan Fitzmorris, Stony Brook
UP NEXT
FIU welcomes Eastern Michigan to Miami this Wednesday, Nov. 30, in a highly anticipated matchup that featured quadruple overtime in its last meeting in Ypsilanti, Mich., last season.
Tip-off is slated for a 7 p.m. start inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center to be broadcast on ESPN+.
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