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Friday, March 1, 2002
FIU ends season with 84-71
setback at Sun Belt Conference Tournament
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photo by Geoff Anderson
Rodrigo Viegas
scored nine points in the SBC tourney loss to North Texas. Viegas
ended the 2001-02 season with 402 points becoming only the 18th
Golden Panther ever to score more than 400 points in a single
season.
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Golden Panthers looked to put their regular-season seven-game
losing streak behind them, opening the Sun Belt Conference Championships
in New Orleans, La. Friday afternoon against North Texas. But
what they got instead was more of the same frustration, losing
84-71, in a game that had gotten away from them before halftime.
"This is supposed to be a new season, when the adrenalin
gets flowing and you put it all on the line because you either
go home or go on," said FIU head coach Donnie
Marsh. "Tonight North Texas just did a better job
than we did. They deserved to win and they deserve to go on."
NT's Chris Davis equaled his season high with 32 points
and teammate Jarmaine Green added 19 as North Texas (15-13)
eliminated Florida International, 84-71, in the opening round
of tournament play.
Taurance
Johnson and Nik
Novakovic each scored 16 for the Golden Panthers who
fell to 10-20 with their eighth-straight loss.
The Mean Green started hot and stayed hot behind Davis who
scored nine of his team's first 11 points en route to an early
11-9 lead. NT converted seven of 12 three-point attempts in the
first half for a 46-32 lead at the break.
Ending the game shooting 54.4 percent from the field (30-for-55),
the Mean Green led by as many as 23 in the second half, 74-51,
when Davis hit a short jumper on the left baseline with 6:01
to play.
NT worked the clock from then on out, using nearly all of
the 35-second clock with each offensive possession. FIU closed
to within 13, 84-71, on a Johnson layup with 55 seconds left,
but the game was never in doubt.
"North Texas came out with a great deal of energy and
they brought it to us," Marsh said. "We tried to slow
them down by giving them some different looks, but they made
shots from the perimeter early and that made it very difficult
for us. They deserve all the credit."
Several Golden Panthers did reach personal milestones, however.
Two blocked shots by Johnson gave him 55 on the year, placing
him second on the school's all-time season list. With his nine
points, Rodrigo
Viegas became the 18th FIU male player to score 400 points
in a season. He finished with 402. And Carlos
Morban picked up another steal, giving him 87 on the
year, just missing the NCAA record book for the top five all-time
freshman steal leaders but still destroying the school record
by 20.
North Texas moves on to the second round and must face No.
20-ranked Western Kentucky (23-3) Saturday night at 10:00 pm
(ET). The Golden Panthers return to Miami to regroup and continue
recruiting for next year. |