Senior guard leads team to its second conference win of the season

Peter Holland // Staff Writer

After going through a four-game slump, the Panthers received their second conference win of the season after a 90-71 victory over University of North Texas led by senior guard Elmo Stephens, who recorded his first double-double of the year, with a career high 34 points and 12 rebounds.  

FIU as improved its record to 6-19 (2-10 in C-USA) for the season.

The Panthers got hot early in the first half, shooting 62.5 percent from the three-point line led by Stephens. The Panthers were dominating the Mean Greens at one point, leading in double figures until North Texas went on a 12-0 run to only trail by six points with two minutes left in the first half.

Stephens responded with his fourth three-point shot of the half for the Panthers to get a 38-30 lead going into halftime. Stephens had 20 points in the first half, shooting 66.7 percent from behind the arc.

“It was good to see the ball go into the basket,” said Head Coach Anthony Evans. “We shot really well during our shoot around and just to carry on through that, we want to continue to do that stuff.”

Stephens hasn’t lost his touch from the first half as he has not missed but one three pointer the remainder of the half. Stephens recorded his first double-double of the year with 32 points and 11 rebounds.

“I’ve been getting up shots after practice and it’s started to benefit me,” said the senior. “And me coming in early before the game also helped me too.”

Despite the Panthers trailing big in the second half, the Mean Green still put up a fight in the final four minutes of the second half, trailing 74-63. Yet the defense wouldn’t be denied and continued to dominate on the floor.

“That’s just something we need to get better at,” said Stephens. “I’m just glad for our defense to get some stops and I feel like if we get on a run, no team can’t stop us.”

With six more games left in the season, the Panthers are back on the road to face both University of Southern Mississippi on Feb. 16 and Louisiana Tech on Feb. 18. Their next home game will be on Feb. 23 against University of Texas San Antonio at 7 p.m.