MIAMI – Facing a Jacksonville State team fighting for the Conference USA Regular Season Championship, the FIU men's basketball team erased a halftime deficit and forced double overtime, but ultimately fell just short on Senior Day, 84-79, Saturday afternoon inside the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.
 
Trailing by two, 64-62, with 4.9 seconds left in regulation, FIU ran a sideline-out-of-bounds play, getting the ball into the hands of Jayden Brewer of the top of the arc. The southpaw drove to his strong side and hit a contested, off-balanced short floater off the glass from just outside the paint to force overtime, 64-64.
 
On his Senior Day, Jonathan Aybar delivered a team best and personal season-high-tying 19 points, the last of which came from the free throw line in the 1st overtime to register his 1,000th career point in front of friends of family during his final home game.
 
That conversion from the charity stripe put the Panthers (9-20, 3-13 CUSA) in front, 70-69, and they maintained a 73-71 lead with under 30 seconds remaining in that first extra period. However, Jax State (20-10, 12-5 CUSA) converted a layup with 20 ticks remaining, and neither team was able to take advantage of an offensive possession in the closing seconds, sending FIU to its first double-overtime contest since 2021.
 
In the 2nd overtime, Jax State raced out to a 7-0 start to take an 80-73 advantage and never looked back. The Panthers trimmed the deficit to three, 80-77, with under two minutes showing, and it remained a one-possession tilt, 82-79, following a pair of Jayden Brewer free throws.
 
Coming out of a Jax State timeout, the Panthers initially did what they needed to do by forcing a missed shot; however, the Gamecocks grabbed an offensive rebound, were fouled and iced their 12th league win of the campaign from the foul line.
 
That 12th win is currently the most in the CUSA as Jax State is a half-game behind Liberty (11-4) for 1st place, making the performance by FIU even more impressive.
 
Joining Aybar in double-figure scoring for FIU were Vianney Salatchoum with 18 – his most since notching 21 in the league opener on Jan. 2. Brewer (11) and Dashon Gittens (10) rounded out a quartet of double-figure scorers for the Panthers, who shot 41% (29-70) from the floor but struggled from beyond the arc (20%, 4-20).
 
Conversely, FIU held the Gamecocks to just 39% shooting (27-69), including a paltry 24% (6-25) in the 2nd half as they erased a 37-28 halftime deficit thanks to 57% (16-28) shooting of their own. Jax State was able to stay in the game and ultimately force overtime as a result of a large free-throw disparity in the closing stanza, with the Gamecocks making 13-of-16 attempts compared with 3-of-5 for the Panthers.
 
That 2nd-half surge by the hosts commenced right out of the locker room as FIU blazed its way to a 13-3 start, taking a 41-40 lead not even five minutes into the period on a Brewer jumper. Over the final 15 minutes of regulation, neither team led by more than four points, the lead exchanged hands 11 times and the game was tied on nine occasions – the last of which came on Brewer's layup just before the regulation buzzer.
 
Prior to the game, FIU recognized five graduating seniors: Aybar, Jaden Grant, Dante Wilcox, George Pridgett, Jr. and Onyx Pastoriza, in addition to four managers.
 
GAME NOTES
Gittens pulled down a game-high eight rebounds … Ashton Williamson passed out a team-best and game-high-matching four assists … Jax State's Jao Ituka led all scorers with 29 points on the strength of 13-14 from the charity stripe … Jaron Pierre Jr. added 22 points for the Gamecocks … Jax State finished with a 20-6 edge in 2nd-chance points, aided by a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass … FIU's last double-overtime game was a 4 OT matchup at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 11, 2021.
 
NEXT UP
FIU concludes the regular season next week, first making the trip to Western Kentucky on Thursday, Mar. 8, at 8 p.m. Eastern before heading to Middle Tennessee for a 3 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Mar. 10.
 
That precedes the CUSA Tournament the following week in Huntsville, Ala., where the Panthers will begin their postseason in the Opening Round on Tuesday, Mar. 11.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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