HOUSTON — FIU's men's basketball program notched its first win on Wednesday evening with a 83-74 victory over Houston Christian in non-conference action. 

The Panthers (1-3) took down the Huskies (0-2) in a rematch of last season's home opener at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. 

The backcourt combination of Arturo Dean and Dashon Gittens combined for 38 points. Dean had 20 points, adding two rebounds and six assists. Gittens filled up the stat sheet with a game-high 20 points on 4-for-6 shooting from deep, chipping in eight rebounds and five assists. 

Jaidon Lipscomb provided a spark off the bench late in the game, going 3-of-4 from the field with two threes and a breakaway dunk in just nine minutes of action. 

Petar Krivokapic found his form from the three-point line, making 3-of-6 for 13 points. Jonathan Aybar also had a solid outing with 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 30 minutes. 

FIU erased an early six-point deficit to take a 10-point lead into the halftime locker room, leading 40-30. The Panthers stretched that advantage to as much as 18 points as Dean knocked down a three with 18:31 remaining to put FIU up 48-30.

HCU chipped away, cutting the lead to just six points with 9:11 remaining. A three from Gittens with 5:53 left put FIU back up double-digits, fueling the Panthers to secure the result. As a team, FIU shot 38.7 percent from three and 46.9 percent from the field. The Panthers racked up 16 offensive rebounds as well. 

FIU's win is the program's first non-conference road win since a 85-69 win on Dec. 16, 2020 over FGCU. 

The Panthers will face off with Akron to begin a stretch of three-straight games at the Cayman Islands Classic, running Nov. 19-21.