FIU Men’s Basketball Nabs First Win Of Season Over Houston Christian

After an 0-3 start to the season, the FIU Panthers needed to bounce back against the Houston Christian that, statistically, they seemed to outmatch.

While there were some early bumps, the Panthers locked in head the end of the first half and didn’t look back, eventually cruising to an 83-74 victory, getting the camel off their back.

Winning Cures All Problems

While there may have been a moral victory after FIU’s close loss to the Miami Hurricanes only a few days ago, the fact of the matter was their record was 0-3 heading into this game. Close losses weren’t going to cut it anymore, this team needed a win.

“Any win is great. Any win on the road is great,” said Head Coach Jeremy Ballard. “This was a very quick turnaround from a very hard-fought, emotionally draining loss to Miami on Monday. I was proud of our guys. They were able to recover, emotionally and physically, to come out here and try to get a win.”

In the end, the Panthers sought out their first W through domination of the turnover battle and sinking their shots. To their credit, they did just that.

FIU shot 30-64 as a team throughout the game while going 12-31 from beyond the arc. But where the Panthers excelled was with their steals, blanking the Huskies 15-3. Combine that with 26 turnovers from HCU, and it’s no wonder they had a lead as large as 15 at one point.

But give credit to Houston Christian, as they were the ones with the lead up to eight minutes into the game. But after that, FIU nabbed the lead and never gave it up.

“Credit to Houston Christian, they did not go away,” said Ballard. “I thought we had opportunities to bury them, but we didn’t. I think that’s a credit to their coaching staff and a credit to their character.”

The Conductors Of Victory #1

While FIU’s bench was solid, the Panthers starters were borderline unstoppable, with four of them earning double-digit points.

Dashon Gittens led the way with 20 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in an overall complete game.

Arturo Dean had another solid performance with 18 points, but also recorded six steals, more than any other Panther on the night.

After struggling the last three games from the three-point line, Petar Krivokapic found his groove with 13 points and three threes.

Jonathan Aybar also earned a respectable 11 points to close out the starters, but Jaidon Lipscomb (Who didn’t even play in the first half) led the charge from the bench with eight points and a pair of steals.

“Coach emphasizes staying locked in and being ready at all times. We got 15 guys that can play the game at the highest level,” said Lipscomb after the game. “We just try to stay locked in and be ready when our number’s called. We got so much talent, and we got so much character. When we put all of it together, this team can go very far.”

Up next for the 1-3 Panthers is a trip to the Cayman Islands Classic, a multi-day in-season tournament that’ll pair FIU with some respectable opponents across the country. Things will kick off against the Akron Zips on Sunday, November 19th at 7:30pm.