By Brett Shweky/Editor
In his final game at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center, senior point guard Brian Beard Jr. scored a team-high 24 points to help pace the Panthers over the North Texas Mean Green 73-58 on Sunday.
Beard Jr. joined two other Panthers in the game in double-digit scoring with Devon Andrews and Trejon Jacob adding 14 and 12 points, respectively.
The Panthers (19-12, 10-8 Conference USA) closed out their regular season having won five out of the last six games.
With the win, FIU secured their 19th victory of the 2018-2019 campaign which places them third all-time in program history in most Division I wins in a season. The school season-record is set at 21 wins from the 1997-1998 team.
“Well for the last I would say six weeks, these guys have taken it upon themselves, beginning with a senior leadership, that they’re really going to push each other in practice so that we can try to play our best basketball at the end of the year,” said FIU head coach Jeremy Ballard. “In that first 18 minutes, that’s the best we played by far all year long.”
With 11:12 left in the first half and FIU holding a 14-6 advantage, the Panthers orchestrated a 20-5 run to push their lead to 34-13 with 3:16 remaining in the opening stanza.
North Texas (20-11, 8-10 C-USA) closed out the half on an 11-6 run to bring the game to 40-24 as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
Beard Jr. scored 13 of his 24 points during the stanza to help fuel the Panthers, while Andrews and Jacob each added nine points in the half.
FIU’s stellar defense held North Texas to a dismal 23.5 percent shooting from the field in the first half.
The Mean Green improved upon their offensive output in the second half by shooting 45.8 percent but failed to consistency stop the Panthers on defense.
FIU and North Texas traded punches in the closing stanza as the game ended on a 34-33 stretch by the Mean Green.
Jorden Duffy led North Texas in scoring with 11 points and also collected eight rebounds.
As the regular season comes to an end for FIU, the Panthers are set to travel to Frisco, TX to compete in the C-USA Championship Tournament.
Seeding for the bracket will be determined following the rest of Saturday’s conference games. The first round of the tournament will be on Wednesday, March 13.
