Second-half uprising lifts FIU over South Alabama, 66-56

Wednesday, January 23, 2002

Second-half uprising lifts FIU over South Alabama, 66-56

photo by Geoff Anderson

Carlos Morban goes in for a dunk over a South Alabama defender. The freshman guard set a new school record with eight steals in the 66-56 victory.

aurance Johnson led all scorers with 17 points and nine rebounds and Carlos Morban added 13 points and a school-record eight steals in FIU’s 66-56 come-from-behind Sun Belt Conference victory over South Alabama Wednesday.

Larry Thompson led the Jags with 14 points, but South Alabama (5-13, 2-6 SBC) dropped its sixth straight game, tying the school record for most consecutive losses in a season, set back in 1971-72.

Down by 10 at the intermission, 32-22, FIU (9-12, 3-4) went on a 16-2 run over the first six minutes of the second half to erase the deficit.

Morban led the second-half charge, scoring 12 of his points while making seven steals. The freshman guard hit a three-pointer with 14:42 to play, tying the score at 34, then made a steal on the next USA position leading to a Haven Jackson lay-in and FIU’s first lead since a 4-3 advantage early in the game.

After a Thompson 3-pointer tied the game at 43 with about 10 minutes to play, FIU went on to score the next 10 points, five of those from Johnson, with Fab Fisher’s 3-point basket putting the Golden Panthers up, 53-43, with eight minutes remaining.

USA, with 12 three-point baskets on the evening, converted two of those to close to within four, 53-49, but FIU regained the momentum and its largest lead of the game, 65-53, on a Nik Novakovic free throw in the final minute.

photo by Geoff Anderson

Former FIU all-conference performer Carlos Arroyo stopped by to view the Golden Panthers win over South Alabama Wednesday. The former Toronto Raptor will workout for the New Jersey Nets on Friday with hopes of landing a roster spot with that organization.

With the help of four 3-pointers, two of those by Demetrice Williams, USA jumped out to a quick 14-7 lead. FIU closed to within one, 16-15, on a Novakovic free throw with 8:38 remaining and could get no closer.

The Jags ended the half on a 16-7 run and defensively limited FIU to just 16 field goal attempts over the first 20 minutes and one field goal, scored by Johnson, over the final nine-and-a-half minutes of the half.

For Morban, his second half heroics were a reprieve of sorts, after scoring just one point with only one steal and nine turnovers over the last three halves of play.

“I told [Carlos] he just had to relax,” said FIU head coach Donnie Marsh. “If we had any kind of a game from him last Wednesday against Arkansas State we would have won that game. We talked several times over the last week and he seemed to respond. We needed someone to come out and take charge in that second half, and Carlos answered the call.”

The Golden Panthers close out their three-game homestand Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. hosting the University of New Orleans. After that, the team will play six of its final seven games on the road before ending the season at the Sun Belt Conference Tournament in New Orleans.