Saturday, February 15, 2003

FIU comes up short at the buzzer, 49-48, at New Orleans

IU misses a chance at consecutive victories, falling 49-48 to New Orleans in New Orleans, LA. Fab Fisher led FIU with 11 points, followed by Eulis Baez and Nikola Novakovic who scored eight points a piece.

The Golden Panthers had two chances at the end of the game, with both shots falling short, the final one at the buzzer.

The Privateers' Hector Romero led all scorers with 18 points, ten coming from the free-throw line.

New Orleans jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead to start the game, before Fab Fisher nailed a three-point basket, four minutes into the game.

After UNO upped the advantage to 13-5, FIU went on a 5-0 run in 30 seconds, sparked by Carlos Fernandez's three-pointer from the top of the key. The Privateers didn't score for over four minutes in that span.

New Orleans would go back up 20-13, before a 9-3 FIU run, to cut the deficit to 23-22 to close out the first half.

FIU shot 35-percent (7-for-20) from the floor in the first half, while holding the Privateers to 32-percent (6-for-19). Both teams hit 33-percent (3-for-9) from three-point range.

The Golden Panthers would continue their run, opening a 29-25 lead, with a 7-2 run to open the first four minutes of the second half.

New Orleans would answer by holding FIU scoreless for over four minutes, but only scored four points to tie the game at 29.

Baez would then score four consecutive points, followed by a Carlos Morban three-pointer to give FIU a 36-35 advantage with ten minutes to play.

Both teams used their main scorers in the second half for a spark, as Baez scored eight of FIU's first 18 points and UNO's Romero had eight of the Privateers first 14 points.

Each team traded buckets over the next nine minutes, as New Orleans held a 49-48 lead, when UNO forward Victor Brown fouled out.

FIU got the ball, but Nikola Novakovic was called for traveling, but Morban stole the inbounds and called timeout at the 19-second mark.

FIU in bounded the ball to Baez who passed to Morban on the far baseline. Baez would rebound the missed shot and passed out to Fisher on the outside. Fisher had to rush the three-point try and fell short.

The Golden Panthers shot 42-percent (18-for-43) for the game, while New Orleans shot 37-percent (14-for-38).

FIU is back at Golden Panther Arena to face Western Kentucky on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern).