By: Malcolm Shields / Staff Writer
The Golden Panthers were unable to pick up a win on the road in the consolation round of the NIT Season Tipoff as FIU dropped both games on the road trip to Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Nov. 21 and to Oral Roberts on Nov. 22.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff 58, Golden Panthers 56
For the second consecutive game, the Golden Panthers (1-2) struggled to make shots consistently from the field. Against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Golden Panthers finished the game shooting 38.6% from the field. Jeremy Allen led FIU in the stat sheet with 21 points six steals and four rebounds.
With under two minutes remaining in the game, Allen scored on a layup to give the Golden Panthers a 55-54 lead, but seconds later Daniel Broughton scored to give UA-PB the 56-55 lead. DeJuan Wright had a critical turnover late which led to two converted free throws by Kyle Jones. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Phil Taylor launched a desperation three pointer, but it was off line to give Arkansas-Pine Bluff the win.
The Golden Panthers slowly chipped away at the lead after halftime. FIU eventually tied the game at 43 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half. FIU would go on a 7-2 run to tie the game again at 50 on a Phil Taylor jumper with 5:21 remaining in the game.
Early in the first half, scoring was few and far between for both teams, but with less than 10 minutes to go in the half; both teams began to knock down shots from three point land. By halftime, Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-2) held a 33-25 lead. The Golden Panthers finished the half shooting 9-of-21 (42.9%) from the field.
Oral Roberts 73, FIU 65
The Golden Panthers (1-3) issues on the defensive end continued as Oral Roberts (4-2) finished shooting 55.1 percent from the field on Nov. 22. “It is something that we need to work on getting back and locating our man as well as the ball and continue to communicate on defense,” guard Phil Taylor said.
Coach Isiah Thomas made a change to his starting lineup as Steven Miro and Gilles Dierickx started in place of Taylor and Tola Akomolafe. When asked if the lineup change would continue into the Coastal Carolina game, Thomas was non-committal. “We’ll see. We’ll see how the next days of practices go and we will make a decision at game time.”
FIU came out shooting better from the field in the second half after trailing 34-36 at halftime. FIU cut the lead to 45-41. The run was fueled by Taylor who scored 22 points and had four steals in the game off the bench.
“It was a coach’s decision,” Taylor said about coming off the bench. “I didn’t let it bother me and I just stayed positive.”
Oral Roberts countered the FIU run as Michael Craion and Jake Lliteras knocked down open shots. Lliteras was deadly from behind the arch as all 12 of his points were from three. Craion finished with 19 points and eight rebounds. Oral Roberts’ lead was cut to 56-50 by a 5-0 run by FIU, but a 7-0 run by the Golden Eagles pushed the lead to 65-53 for Oral Roberts and they cruised from there. DeJuan Wright finished with 17 points and four rebounds for FIU.
“Our guys played pretty hard. In the first half, we committed nine turnovers and they were able to convert off of our turnovers, Thomas said. “The second half we pretty much played them even.”
The Golden Panthers came out shooting cold from the field early in the first half. At one point Oral Roberts held a 19-8 lead. Led by Wright, the Golden Panthers went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 19-14 deficit.
Too at times in the first half, the Golden Panthers had defensive lapses where Golden Eagles shooters were left wide open. Oral Roberts shot 50 percent from the field in the half. At one point, ORU held a 13 lead on the Golden Panthers. FIU went into halftime trailing 34-26. Tanner Wozniak led FIU with 8 points at halftime.
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