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MIAMI, Fla. – Florida International shot 53.3% from behind the arc to spoil the Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team’s season opener on Friday night, 57-54. Senior guard Mike Rose led all scorers in the game with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting.
FIU junior Michael Dominguez opened the game with a three pointer from the corner. The Golden Panthers controlled the tempo early until a three pointer by sophomore Justin Stommes five minutes in tied the game at 9-9. FIU would not lead again until 54 seconds remained in the game.
With the game knotted at nine, freshman Deveyon Hunter exploded to the basket for a layup that untied it. Stommes then knocked down two straight three pointers to give the Colonels an early 17-9 advantage. Following an FIU layup by sophomore Tremayne Russell, Stommes connected on another three, his fourth of the half, to expand EKU’s lead to 20-11.
A four-point play by Russell cut EKU’s lead to five, but two consecutive layups by Rose made it 24-15 with six minutes remaining in the first half.
A put-back by junior Josh Taylor with just over a minute left in the first stanza gave the Colonels a 32-22 lead, their biggest of the game, heading into halftime.
The Colonels shot 48% from the field and 41% from three point range in the first half while holding FIU to just 28.6 % shooting. Stommes and Rose led all scorers at the half with 12 points apiece.
Following a 4-0 run by FIU to begin the second half, Rose and Stommes hit back-to-back layups to keep the Colonels’ lead at 10. A three by Dominguez and a free throw by sophomore Nick Taylor, however, made the score 36-30 before a three point play by junior Papa Oppong and a three pointer by freshman Joshua Jones ballooned the Colonel lead back to 42-30, EKU's biggest of the game.
FIU responded with a 12-4 run, sparked by another Dominguez three and four points from freshman big man Freddy Asprilla, to pull within four. Rose ended the run with a three from the top of the key to make it 49-42. Dominguez, however, wasn’t finished as he quickly answered Rose’s three pointer with one of his own, his fourth of the second half, making it 49-45 with just over eight minutes left in the game.
A Dominguez layup with four and a half minutes remaining tied the game at 52-52 for the first time since early in the first half, and a floater in the lane by FIU’s Taylor with just under a minute left gave the Golden Panthers the lead, 56-54. Another free throw by Asprilla made it 57-54.
With just seconds left in the game, Stommes heaved a three pointer that missed; however, junior Dayvon Ellis corralled the ball and called timeout with just 0.8 seconds remaining in the game. A three pointer at the buzzer by EKU’s Taylor fell short.
The Colonels shot just 33.3% from the field in the second half.
Rose finished with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting. Stommes scored 16 on 5-of-8 shooting (4-of-7 3pts). He also equaled a career high with six rebounds. Oppong, in his first game as a Colonel, led EKU with nine rebounds and two blocks while Ellis, also in his EKU debut, led the team with five assists.
Dominguez paced FIU with 17 points, shooting 5-of-8 (4-of-5 in the second half) from behind the arc.
The Colonels return to action on Tuesday, Nov. 18 for their home opener against Winston Salem State. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.
