Panthers cannot stop second half surge of Maryland

By: Malcolm Shields / Staff Writer

With the big time lights and the exposure of a national television audience looking on, the Panthers played one of their better games on the season in the first half, but their offensive execution late in the game, compounded with losing leading scorer DeJuan Wright for the second half due to injury, hurt the Panthers as the Terrapins rallied in the second half to defeat FIU 65-61 on Dec. 14, in College Park.

Down the stretch, FIU struggled to execute offensively. With 39.3 seconds remaining, Phil Taylor had a layup on the baseline but Ashton Pankey rejected the shot, was immediately fouled, and converted two free throws.

On the next possession Taylor knocked down a three pointer to cut the deficit to 59-57 with 33 seconds remaining. Nick Faust made two free throws to push the lead to 61-57. On the next possession, Allen forced up a three pointer but Tola Akomolafe was under the basket for the put back to put FIU behind by two with 13 seconds remaining.

After Stoglin was fouled with 11 seconds remaining, he made two free throws to extend the lead for Maryland. On the next possession, Taylor hit a floater in the lane to cut the deficit to two. After a quick foul, Faust missed two free throws, but FIU lost the rebound out of bounds. Faust’s layup with two seconds remaining sealed the game for Maryland.

Wright did not return to the game in the second half for FIU due to a leg injury he sustained sometime in the first half. After the game, Coach Isiah Thomas could not give an evaluation on the condition of Wright.

“They were able to go to the line and got the calls and got back into the game,” coach Thomas said. “When DeJuan Wright went down… our guys did a good job hanging around trying to stay in the game.”

Phil Taylor finished the game with 20 points and seven assists.

“He played an excellent game,” Thomas said “He’s really playing well. He only had two turnovers. For a guy to play 38 minutes he was great tonight.”

Jeremy Allen, who had a hot first half shooting, finished the game with 18 points and four rebounds.

“I was just looking for opportunities, taking good shots, when they were presented to me,” Allen said. “Instead of playing me man-to-man they started to switch every time,” Allen said of Maryland’s defense on him in the second half.

Maryland came out in the second half shooting well from the field. The Terrapins went on an 11-6 run to open the second half, which was led by the scoring of Stoglin. In the absence of Wright, Taylor and Allen picked up the offensive load. FIU extended its lead to 46-40 with 13 minutes remaining in the game. The Terrapins leading scorer Stoglin was forced to the bench mid-way in the second half with four personal fouls. Maryland went on a 9-0 run to take a 49-48 lead on a Sean Mosley three-point play.

“They were in their house and started to more physical than us,” Allen said. “Defensively they turned it up a bit.”

The Panthers went nearly seven minutes mid-way in the second half without scoring a basket from the field.

“We had some mental lapses on offense,” Taylor said. “It was nothing spectacular they were doing defensively.”

Maryland took a 54-52 lead with under 5:30 to play in the game. FIU finish the game shooting 40 percent from the field.

The pace early on in the first half was slow and methodical offensively for both teams. FIU took a 9-8 lead on a DeJuan Wright three pointer. Defensively, the Golden Panthers held the Terrapins to numerous one shot possessions and forced early turnovers.

Mid-way through the half, both teams began to pick up the scoring. Jeremy Allen tied up the game at 19 on a three-pointer with 6:03 remaining in the half. Maryland (6-3) dominated the Panthers inside with 14 points in the paint in the first half.

Allen’s three-point shooting gave FIU the lead. The Panthers (3-7) finished the half on a 20-12 run to take a 34-27 lead to the break. Allen led the Panthers with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range. The Panther finished shooting 46.2 percent from the field. Defensively, the Panthers held Maryland to 36 percent shooting and Terrell Stoglin to 1-of-8 shooting in the half.