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MURFREESBORO WEATHER

MTSU men take 71-65 road win at FIU





MTSU's Tyler Millen goes in for a dunk at FIU Thursday night. MT ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

MTSU’s Tyler Millen goes in for a dunk at FIU Thursday night. MT ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

MIAMI – Middle Tennessee’s men escaped the Ocean Bank Convocation Center with a 71-65 Conference USA victory over FIU on Thursday.

Josh Jefferson led the Blue Raiders with 15 points, followed by Eli Lawrence’s 14.

FIU tied the game at 41-41 at the 17:36 mark in the second half, but MT would lead by as many as 13 in the period. A Panther 3-pointer cut the Blue Raider led to three with 1:50 left to play.

Clutch free throws by Camryn Weston, DeAndre Dishman, Lawrence and Jefferson helped the visitors keep a cushion. Petar Krivokapic – FIU’s leading free throw shooter at .938 on the season – went to the charity stripe for three shots with 10 seconds remaining and a chance to make it a one possession game. After his first two shots found their mark, the third bounced off the back rim into the hands of Jefferson, who made both his ensuing free throws, sealing MT’s fourth straight win.

“We just had a couple of key possessions where we got stops,” head coach Nick McDevitt said. “It felt like every time we got up seven, eight, nine points, we just had mental lapses, tried stuff a little bit on both sides of the ball, and could have handled those situations better. We could’ve pushed the lead to double digits a couple times. But obviously, any time you can win on the road, you’ll take it. You’re not going to play good every night, but when you don’t play your best and find a way to win, that’s a sign of a good team.”

The Blue Raiders scored 10 points off 12 first-half Panther turnovers as they entered the locker room with a 37-33 lead. Six different players recorded a steal for MT in the opening period. Another eight turnovers helped put six more Blue Raider points on the board.

Dishman led all players with 10 rebounds, his second game with double-digit rebounds on the year, while tying a season high with two blocked shots. Donovan Sims led the Blue Raiders with six assists. Lawrence and Jefferson’s three steals tied for the team lead.

Eight of the 10 Blue Raiders to see the floor scored, and all finished with at least five points. Middle Tennessee heads up the Atlantic coast to Boca Raton to take on Florida Atlantic at 3 p.m. CT Saturday.

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