HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Despite leading for most of the game, FIU men's basketball (15-17, 8-12 CUSA) fell behind with five minutes left and couldn't get over the hump, seeing its season come to an end at the hands of Missouri State (15-17, 8-12) on Monday night by a score of 75-72.

The Panthers were off and running early, taking a lead on a Julian Mackey and-one conversion at 18:13. That lead stretched to five after Hamed Olayinka got his own offensive rebound and sunk the tip-in as the Panthers led 14-9 with 14 minutes left.

The Bears battled back over the next eight minutes, even taking a three-point lead, which was brief as a 6-0 Panther run pushed them back in front. Zawdie Jackson had two layups and Eric Dibami had one to get it back to an FIU lead.

Trading the lead back and forth for the rest of the half, Ibrahim Olajuwon delivered a keynote sequence, intercepting a pass and running down the floor for a dunk, followed by a block on the other end. The Panthers led by five at half, closing it at 36-31.

Frame two started strong for the Panthers, who raced to extend the lead to nine after Dibami and Olayinka traded layups. Missouri State responded in kind by getting hot from three and began to whittle away at the deficit.

After a pair of Corey Stephenson free throws brought the lead back to six, with 7:42 left, the Bears quickly cut it to one on the next two possessions. They took their first lead with five minutes left, trading scores until they pulled up by four at 4:25.

Down five, Stephenson gave the Panthers a last gasp - scoring a mid-range jumper and knocking down a corner three to tie it at 69. However, the Bears got stops where they needed to, and Stephenson's last-ditch three-pointer was long, ending the season for FIU.

Stephenson wrapped up a sensational year, finishing with 559 points after going for 24 and 10 - his fifth double-double of the season and surpassing Dwight Stewart's 541 in 1991 for fifth-most points in a single season by an FIU player. 

Jackson ended his illustrious collegiate career with a strong 19-point performance, ending the season as the third leading scorer. Olayinka had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Dibami had a career-high 13 boards, with ten on the offensive glass, tying the CUSA Tournament record and FIU record and becoming the first Panther to do that since Tymell Murphy did it on 1/2/13. He joined Murphy, Ivan Almonte and Chuck Stuart as players to record 10 offensive rebounds in a game at FIU.

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