FIU Men’s Basketball Crawls Back, Can’t Stop Stetson Shot Barrage In Tough Loss

MIAMI, FL – Every shot was falling for the Stetson Hatters in the second half on Tuesday. After Stetson and FIU Men’s Basketball were tied going into halftime, the Hatters rode a 58.8% field goal percentage in the second half to an 80-68 win over the Panthers.

FIU (4-9) was up 12 points at one point in the first half and allowed Stetson to tie the game with a 15-6 run over the final six minutes. Stetson (7-5) opened the second half with four three-pointers to take the lead.

The Panthers got back within one point with 5:29 remaining in the game when Dashon Gittens hit a corner three. But Stetson answered back with three three-pointers in quick succession to ice any chance FIU had to come back.

Stetson’s Jalen Blackmon and Alec Oglesby combined for 50 points on 17-for-24 shooting and 12-for-22 from three. Blackmon entered Tuesday’s gameas  No. 12 in the nation for three-point field goal percentage with a 47.7% mark.

FIU guard Javaunte Hawkins led the Panthers scoring 17 points, shooting 5-for-13 from the field and 4-for-8 from three.

What’s Next?

FIU will play the Maine Black Bears at 7pm this upcoming Thursday at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center before traveling to St. George to play the Utah Tech Trailblazers.

Those two games will be FIU’s final games before starting their Conference-USA schedule against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks on January 8th.