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Saturday, January 5, 2002
FIU ends homstand on high
note, beats Middle Tennessee, 67-60
 reshman
Taurance
Johnson led all scorers with a career-high 25 points
as Florida International snapped a two-game losing streak with
a 67-60 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball victory over Middle
Tennessee Saturday night in Miami.
Nik
Novakovic tallied his season-high 12 points for FIU while
freshman Carlos
Morban scored 10 points and dished a career-high eight
assists in the win.
Lee Nosse led Middle Tennessee (6-7, 1-2 SBC) with
17 points and seven rebounds while Jermale Wilkerson came
off the bench to score 11.
FIU (7-9, 1-2 SBC) scored the first 11 points of the game
and grabbed a 32-19 halftime lead. The Golden Panthers expanded
their advantage to as many as 22 points with a 47-25 advantage
with 14:06 to play and led 63-43 with six minutes left after
a pair of Novakovic free throws.
MTSU, who converted 13 three-pointers in the game, made one
final push scoring 11 points in a row to get to within 63-54
on a D'Marius Wilkes 3-point basket with 2:10 remaining.
FIU reclaimed its double-digit lead, 67-57, on a Haven
Jackson dunk with five seconds left, before a Wilkerson
3-pointer as time expired provided the final margin of victory.
"This game was a confidence boost for us," said
FIU head coach Donnie
Marsh. "Our last four or five practices have been
really intense and focused. The effort was there for us tonight
and it was a good win for our kids."
The Golden Panthers had one of their best all-around shooting
days of the year. The team converted 55.1 percent (27 of 49)
from the floor overall, including 14 of 24 in the second half,
while holding MTSU to just 35.7 percent.
FIU, who ranks second in the Sun Belt Conference in team steals,
made another 14 thefts on the night while forcing 18 Blue Raider
turnovers.
FIU finishes the homestand at 2-3. The team takes to the road
for three straight beginning Monday night for a non-conference
game in Philadelphia against the University of Pennsylvania. |