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Friday, December 28, 2001
Late surge lifts FIU over
LIU, 54-50
 odrigo Viegas
scored 15 points and Fab
Fisher came off the bench for a season-high 12, but it
took a late rally for FIU to beat winless LIU, 54-50, in the
consolation game of the men's basketball FIU Holiday Classic
Saturday night in Miami.
LIU (0-9), in looking for its first victory of the season,
led by as many as 11 in the first half and was up by seven, 48-41,
with 7:34 to play when FIU (6-7) finally caught fire scoring
the next 11 points, six of those on a pair of 3-pointers by Fisher
and four others on two Viegas baskets.
A Walter Price layup brought the Blackbirds to within
52-50 with 1:24 remaining, but a pair of free throws by Nik Novakovic
with nine seconds left put the game out of reach, spoiling the
LIU upset bid.
"I'm very happy for Fab because he is a veteran on this
team and he was someone who turned our fortunes around last year
with his level of play," said FIU head coach Donnie Marsh.
"He and I had a long talk in my office this morning because
that guy hasn't been around the last couple of weeks. He's one
of the smartest players on the team and I told him we needed
him to get back to where he was if we were going to be successful."
LIU played the game shorthanded as its leading scorer Antawn
Dobie, who averages 18 points per game, was unavailable due
to an injured knee suffered during last night's 110-57 loss to
Ohio.
Maurice Yearwood, who was forced into the starting
assignment, led the Blackbirds with 14 points while JaJa Bey
added 12 in a losing effort.
FIU scored the first four points of the game before the LIU
offense came alive and tied the game at 6, on a three-point basket
by Yearwood with about 17 minutes left in the half.
The Golden Panthers regained the advantage, 11-10, on a Viegas
trey before the Blackbirds went on a 15-3 run. Dewan Gray's
layup with 3:33 remaining in the half gave LIU a 25-14 lead.
FIU closed the gap to 27-21 at the intermission. |