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Saturday, November 17, 2001
FIU falls in Classic championship
game, 71-65, to Texas-San Antonio
 cEverett
Powers and James Joseph scored l7 points a piece and
Texas-San Antonio won the FIU Tip-Off Classic with a 71-65 victory
over host Florida International Saturday.
Taurance
Johnson had 15 points to lead FIU and Rodrigo
Viegas had 14 in a losing effort.
FIU (1-1) held a 61-58 advantage after a Johnson spinning
lay up with four minutes to play and after free throw by UTSA’s
Reggie Minnieweather, the Golden Panthers Chris
Carter hit a jumper in the paint giving FIU a 63-59 lead
at the 2:43 mark.
But UTSA (2-0) scored the next 10 points to come away with
the victory. Two free throws by Powers then a Devin Brown
jumper tied the game at 63 with 1:25 to play. The Roadrunners
then grabbed the lead for good on a three-point basket by Joseph,
his fifth trey of the night on six attempts.
FIU took the lead at the opening tip and were up by as many
as 10, 37-27, on a Viegas layup with 4:57 to play in the half.
USTA fought back, however, scoring the last eight points of the
period, six of those on a pair of threes by Joseph, and trailed
at the break, 37-35.
The second half was a seesaw battle that saw five ties and
10 lead changes until UTSA took control.
“This was a good team we played tonight. An experienced
team that didn’t panic even when they got down early,”
said FIU head coach Donnie
Marsh. “But we gained experience tonight, too. It’s
the kind we can learn from down the road.”
In the consolation game, Kamaal McQueen hit for 26
points, 16 of those in the second half, in St. Peter’s (1-1)
79-70 come-from-behind win over Maine.
Clayton Brown scored a team-high 23 points with 10
rebounds and teammates Errick Greene and Justin Rowe
had 16 points each for Maine (0-3).
With their win, the Roadrunners dominated the all-tournament
balloting with Powers named the Classic’s Most Valuable
Player and Brown and Joseph named to the all-tournament team
along with Johnson and McQueen. |