Saturday, February 1, 2003

FIU comes up one basket short against Middle Tennessee

IU comes up just short in a 60-58 loss to Middle Tennessee in Murfreesboro, TN.

The Golden Panthers had the ball for the final possession of the game, but a tough no call by the officials on a Eulis Baez shot in the paint sealed the Blue Raider victory.

Despite picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, Junior Matias led the Golden Panthers (6-13, 0-6 Sun Belt) with 16 points, his ninth game in double figures on the season.

Eulis Baez recorded his ninth double-double with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Carlos Morban was the third Golden Panther in double figures with 10 points. FIU out shot the Blue Raiders, 43-percent (19-for-44) to 38-percent (18-for-47) for the game.

Tommy Gunn scored 16 points and John Humphrey grabbed nine rebounds for Middle Tennessee.

Morban scored the first four points for the Golden Panthers and Baez added another bucket, as Middle Tennessee (10-11, 5-3 SBC) took a 15-6 lead in the first eight minutes of the game.

After the Blue Raiders went up 26-11, FIU responded with a 7-0 run, punctuated by Junior Matias' three-point basket.

The Golden Panthers would cut the lead to seven at halftime, 32-25, holding MTSU to two points the final three minutes of the first half. Three players scored 23 of FIU's 25 points, led by Baez's 11. Morban and Matias each added six. Nikola Novakovic's had the two other Golden Panther points.

Gunn scored 12 points to lead the Blue Raiders. Both teams shot over 40-percent in the first half, as FIU went 44-percent (10-for-23) from the floor and Middle Tennessee was 42-percent (10-for-24).

Matias tied the game at 32 to start the second half, scoring seven points, nailing his second three. Unfortunately, he received his fourth foul with just over 15-minutes left to play and sat out the next five minutes.

Middle Tennessee built the lead back to six, 41-35, in part to Marcus Robinson's five points in a 9-3 run at the 12-minute mark.

The Blue Raiders took a 49-42 advantage, before FIU clawed its way back again. The Golden Panthers went on a 13-6 run to tie the contest at 55 with three minutes to play, but had to play without Belco Bamba the rest of the game, as he received his fifth foul.

William Pippen would put the Blue Raiders back on top with two free throws, 57-55. Carlos Fernandez would tie the game again off a rebound by Baez.

After two more Middle Tennessee free throws, Baez grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the possession going and Matias was fouled with 53-seconds left. The junior would hit one for a 59-58 deficit.

FIU got the last possession after Baez rebounded a Marcus Robinson missed three-point attempt.

That led to the no-call where Baez put up a shot next to the basket, but fell short with 1.8-seconds left. There looked liked contact on the shot, but not enough for the official to blow a whistle.

Blue Raider Napoleon Rhodes was fouled and made one-of-two foul shots. Fisher would put up the final half-court shot that missed.

FIU will next face Sun Belt opponent Arkansas State on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) in Golden Panther Arena.