By: Patrick Chalvire/Asst. Sports Director
The men’s basketball team went on a run early and never looked back, en route to defeating the Florida College Falcons, 64-42, in their season opener.
The opening game was a first for several Panthers, three who had never started a college game. 6-foot-10 Adrian Diaz started the offense with a two-handed dunk from newcomer Tashawn Desir.
“I thought it was a good start for us,” said Head Coach Anthony Evans. “Obviously in the beginning there was a lot of energy, the team played well defensively, we rebounded, got some easy baskets.”
The dunk from Diaz would jump start a 5-0 run by the Panthers before a jump shot from Falcons forward Dennis Gravely put a stop to it, but only for the time being. The Panthers then went on the offensive, going on a 20-0 run spearheaded by Diaz and returning starter Dennis Mavin.
I was just trying to do what coach told me to do,” said Diaz. “He told me ‘Just relax, first game back home so get the jitters out of the way quick’ so that’s what I just did.”
With 11 minutes left to go in the half, redshirt sophomore guard Ray Rodriguez hit the games first three-pointer. The score made it 177 straight games that the Panthers have converted a three, dating back to December of 2008.
At halftime, the Panthers led the Falcons, 33-14. Diaz, in his first collegiate game, had eight points while going 4-of-5 from the floor, including four rebounds and three blocks. Mavin contributed with seven points while shooting 3-of-4 from the floor, with two rebounds and two assists.
The Falcons offense simply never took off throughout the first half, as they were held to just 17.4 percent shooting from the field (4-23), while the Panthers shot 52 percent from the field (13-25).
With just over six minutes left to go, Evans pulled Diaz from the game. He finished with 11 points, including five rebounds and a career-high five blocks. Despite the output, Diaz said there were still several factors he could have improved on. “I could’ve done better on the boards, I could’ve done better defensively as well, so that’s something I’m going to have to improve for next game,” he said.
FIU lead by as many as 28 points during the game but the Falcons took advantage of some miscues in the second half, a rare downside Evans said they will need to adjust.
“Toward the end it was a little sloppy. I think we were playing the score rather than playing the game, and that’s something we’ve gotta work on but it’s a new team, a lot of new faces, it’s gonna be a process,” said Evans.
Mavin earned his first double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points off 8-of-11 shooting, and 10 rebounds, including four assists. Dominique Williams also contributed with 11 points of his own, coming off 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
During the off-season, Evans had said that Mavin was and would be a leader on the team. The senior returner took the advice in stride and made sure to keep the younger, newer members focused. “Our first role was just to play hard on defense and that was just our focus going into the game, so I was just trying to get the guys just focused on defense and then everything else was gonna take care of itself,” he said.
Nearly every Panthers player stepped foot on the court Friday evening, something Evans said was the plan prior to the game to help get some of the newer players adjusted to the game. “I think everyone that went in gave a solid contribution,” he said. “We have some young guys, new guys, that we’re trying to get time and confidence for and I think as we were able to do that, the team, the depth, will get better.”
Desir also finished with a game-high seven assists.
With the win, the Panthers improve to 27-7 all-time in home openers. 20-14 all-time in season openers. They will now head on the road for their first away game of the season to face Stetson on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
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