FRISCO, Texas – The seventh-seeded FIU men's basketball team erased a 20-point deficit on Wednesday night to force overtime against Louisiana Tech in the first round of the C-USA Men's Basketball Championship presented by TotalCare, though, the Panthers came up short over the final frame to fall 81-76 at the Ford Center at The Star. Denver Jones and Arturo Dean paced FIU with 25 and 21 points, respectively, as the Panthers conclude the season 14-18 overall and 8-12 in the Conference USA.
 
Jones, a C-USA First Team selection, connected on 10-of-23, including four 3-pointers, en route to his 17^th 20-point performance of the season, in addition to recording five rebounds in 42 minutes. Jones finished with 564 points on the season on an average of 20.1 ppg, marking the first Panther to average over 20 points in a season since Carlos Arroyo in 2000-01 (21.2) while recording the third most single-season points in program history. 
 
Dean, the C-USA's Freshman of the Year, finished with a new career-high 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, while pulling down six rebounds, dishing a game-high seven assists and matching a season-high five steals – marking his 15^th game this season with at least three steals.

Dean finishes his rookie campaign with the most steals (81), second most assists (122), and third most points (381) recorded in a season by a freshman in program history. 
 
Graduate guard John Williams Jr. recorded 12 points, including 5-of-7 from the stripe on clutch free throws down the stretch, and two steals to round out the Panthers in double digits. C-USA All-Freshman selection Dashon Gittens and classmate Jayden Brewer finished with six points and two rebounds apiece.  
 
Trailing 58-50 with 6:10 left in regulation, FIU got hot from the floor and found momentum in hitting its next six straight shots to knot the margin at 65-65 with 2:01 remaining.
 
The Bulldogs took a 69-65 advantage with under 20 seconds left to play, though, Williams Jr. quickly raced up the court for a finish at the rim with 0:13 on the clock, 69-67. Williams Jr. then corralled a clutch steal in the press with six seconds remaining, knocking down a pair at the line in the double bonus to deadlock the score at 69-69 prior to a Bulldogs layup coming off the rim on the other end to force overtime.
 
Jones put FIU ahead for the first time since the 15:38 mark of the first half, 71-69, though, the Bulldogs found their rhythm in rattling a 9-0 run to flip the advantage and force a FIU timeout with 1:44 left, 78-71.
 
Dean finished at the rim (78-73), as the Bulldogs went 4-for-4 from the stripe over the ensuing minute to extend the margin, 81-73. Williams Jr. nailed a three to cut it to five with 15 seconds remaining, though, LA Tech would survive the ensuing press to ultimately come away with the 81-76 victory at the final horn.
 
The Bulldogs hit 7-of-13 from beyond the arc over the opening 20 minutes, in addition to capitalizing off eight FIU turnovers in the first half, to corral a 36-24 lead the at the intermission. FIU shot just 37.5 percent over the opening frame, including 2-of-10 from deep and 4-of-7 from the stripe (57.1%).
 
LA Tech pushed its largest lead of the night at 20 points, 45-25, within the first three minutes of the second frame (17:29). FIU found its chemistry and hit seven of its next eight shots from the floor, capped by back-to-back layups from Jayden Brewer to come within single digits, 49-41.
 
The Bulldogs built up an a 14-point lead shortly after (56-42) prior Petar Krivokapic nailing a corner three and an Arturo Dean layup creeping back within single digits, 56-47. A Gittens free throw ensued, followed by a Denver Jones pull up prior to the Panthers' second-half rally with 6:10 remaining.

FIU finished the second half shooting 64.0 percent from the field (16-of-25), including hitting 5-of-8 from three (62.5%), while also forcing 11 LA Tech turnovers over the final 20 minutes of regulation. 

The Panthers finished the contest 47.5 percent overall and 34.8 percent from 3-point range (8-of-23). 

The Bulldogs finished with 21 second chance points upon a 48-27 advantage on the glass for the night, while finishing the contest 46.9 percent from the field - including 40 points inside the paint - and 47.4 percent from 3-point range (9-of-19). LA Tech was led by Keaston Willis and Isaiah Crawford with 23 and 22 points, respectively. 
 
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