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Saturday, February 2, 2002
FIU can't overcome early
deficit, falls at Middle Tennessee, 71-69
 iddle
Tennessee squandered a 19-point second half lead then hung on
at the end and beat FIU, 71-69, Saturday night in Murfreesboro,
Tenn.
FIU never led in the game but fought its way back from a 45-26
deficit and tied the score at 64 with 4:42 to play on a 3-point
basket by Slavcho
Slavtchev.
Middle Tennessee then led 70-67 in the final seconds when
FIU's Chris
Carter scored on a layup and was fouled with 5.1 seconds
left. But Carter's free throw attempt hit the back rim and was
rebounded by MTSU's William Pippen who was fouled.
Pippen, shooting two, hit the first for a 71-69 led. He missed
his second try, with 3.5 seconds showing on the clock and it
was rebounded by Taurance
Johnson. But the freshman was called for traveling trying
to dribble out of the pack and MTSU ran out the clock.
"This loss really stings," said FIU head coach Donnie Marsh.
"Middle Tennessee is a much improved team. They are very
athletic and play well at home. We dug ourselves a hole that
we could never really fight our way out of."
John Humphrey came off the bench to lead the Blue Raiders
(11-11, 5-5 SBC) who won their fourth straight game and raised
their home record on the year to 9-2. The win moved MTSU into
third place in the SBC East Division and dropped FIU into fourth
place.
Johnson led the Golden Panthers with 21 points while Rodrigo Viegas
and Carlos
Morban added 11 points each. FIU dropped its second straight
two-point game on the road and fell to 10-14, 4-6 in the Sun
Belt Conference.
The Golden Panthers came out flat and without leading scorer
Johnson who was pulled from the starting lineup for a team violation.
But when Pippen hit a 3-pointer to make the score 17:16 with
11:45 to play in the first half, Johnson made his first appearanceand
immediately hit a three-pointer that helped ignite the Golden
Panther offense, at least momentarily.
FIU got to within 23-19 on a Carter jumper in the paint with
5:07 to play. But poor shooting the rest of the half helped MTSU
regain the momentum.
The Golden Panthers shot only 29 percent (9 of 31) over the
first 20 minutes that included several missed layup attempts
while MTSU converted 50 percent of its shots and led at the half,
32-21.
The Blue Raiders started the second half the same way, hitting
three-straight 3-pointers to lead by 18, 41-23, just two minutes
in. Then a Tommy Gunn jumper with 17:26 to play gave Middle
Tennessee its biggest lead of the night, 45-26, with 16:37 to
play.
But the Golden Panthers refused to fold. Johnson had 12 points
in the second half while Morban scored all 11 of his points and
Viegas had seven to close the gap and Slavtchev came off the
bench adding three-straight three-pointers that brought FIU all
the way back.
Despite the loss, Morban also contributed five steals giving
him 69 on the year and establishing a new school record.
The Golden Panthers continue their road swing, next Wednesday,
Feb. 6 at New Mexico State. Tip off is 9:05 pm ET. |