Men's Basketball falls short at UALR, 67-62

Saturday, March 1, 2003

Men's Basketball falls short at UALR, 67-62

ALR hands FIU a 67-62 Sun Belt Conference loss in Little Rock, AR. Nikola Novakovic led three Golden Panthers in double figures with 15 points.

Fab Fisher scored 13 points in the loss and Carlos Morban added 10. The Trojans were led by Nic Zachery's 17 points.

Unlike the first contest of the season, a 46-45 UALR win on February 8, FIU and the Trojans shot well from the field. After the 13-minutes of the first half, the Golden Panthers were shooting 66.7-percent (10-for-15) from the floor and Little Rock was at 56.3-percent (9-for-16).

FIU (7-19, 1-12 Sun Belt) made five three-pointers in the half, with Fab Fisher and Carlos Morban nailing two a piece. Nikola Novakovic provided a big spark off the bench, scoring eight points in nine minutes.

The Trojans (17-11, 8-6 SBC) took a 37-35 lead into the half. The 35 points scored in the opening stanza was FIU's fourth highest of the season and most since January 4 vs. North Texas (37).

UALR's Nik Zachery hit four treys and his 14 points led both teams at the half.

Both teams continued their hot shooting midway into the second half, as each team was 53.3-percent (8-for-15) with eight minutes left in the game.

The defenses took over after that, as FIU held UALR scoreless for the next four minutes. The Trojans only let a Fisher free throw over the next five minutes, as Little Rock took a 60-55 advantage at the two-minute mark.

Carlos Fernandez hit a shot under the basket to close the deficit to three, with 31-seconds remaining. After four UALR free throws, Slavtco Slavtchev nailed a trey to bring the score to 63-60.

UALR made four more from the charity stripe and FIU hit two to close out the game, 67-62.

The Golden Panthers shot 52.1-percent from the floor, their highest of the season and only second time above 50-percent (Florida Gulf Coast).

FIU will travel to face Arkansas State in Jonesboro, AR to end the regular season on Monday night. The Sun Belt Conference Tournament begins on Friday, March 7 in Bowling Green, KY.