FIU Men’s Basketball Second Half Struggles Lead To FGCU Win & 2-7 Start

MIAMI, FL – Following a big win against a 2022 March Madness team in Kennesaw State, the FIU Panthers’ tough non-conference schedule continued against what FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard called the toughest non-con team they will face in the FGCU Eagles.

The Panthers wasted no time getting off to an early lead, led mainly by sophomore guard Arturo Dean who had four steals in less than 10 minutes into the game and ended the first half of action with nine steals, which surpassed the program record of eight.

Jayden Brewer, who has been coming off the bench for the Panthers this season was the first player to reach the double-digit scoring, with 12 points while going 6-6 from the field.

Brewer had a tough second half, as he was limited to four points and shot 1-4 from the field, but would go on to end the night with 16 points.

After having a dominant 44-29, the Eagles got it going right out of the half as they went on a 16-1 that put them back into it, as they led 59-56 with 9:12 in the game.

Despite the Eagles’ run, the Panthers kept it close, just trailing by three points. Arturo led the way for FIU in the second half of action as he would go on to finish the night with 13 points and 10 steals.

Despite how tight the game was, the Panthers weren’t able to retake the lead and ended up losing to a final of 68-65 as FIU had the ball on the final possession and missed two three-pointers.

What stood out about what happened from one half to another was the fact that the Panthers’ shooting percentages went down drastically from the field in the first half they were at 58.1% and in the second half they were at 32.0%.

FIU is set to host the Long Island Sharks, which will tip off on Saturday at 6pm.