(Miami - Dec. 30, 2024) - Despite 47 points in the second half, the Trailblazers could not overcome a slow start on Monday afternoon falling, 80-66 at Florida International in the WAC/C-USA Aliance Game at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

"I loved how we tried to come back, but getting down by that much, it is very hard to come back," head coach Jon Judkins said.

Utah Tech (4-11) was led by a team-leading 19 points and eight rebounds from Beon Riley while fellow senior guard Noa Gonsalves chipped in 18 points.

Samuel Ariyibi made it three Trailblazers in double figures notching his fourth straight contest in double digits finishing with 10 points, five rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks while playing a career-leading 36 minutes.

FIU (6-7) was led by 15 points from Travis Gray while Asim Jones tallied 14 points and a team-high seven assists.

How It Happened
Gonsalves got the Trailblazers off to a strong start with seven of Utah Tech's first 11 points nailing a three-pointer to bring the Blazers within one at 12-11 with 12:19 to play in the opening half.

A quick 8-0 run for FIU pushed the Panthers' lead to nine and after a layup by Riley ended the scoreless drought, FIU extended their lead to 22 (35-13) with a 15-0 run over the next four minutes.

A pair of free throws by Unisa Turay got the Trailbazers back on the board, but FIU closed the half on a 12-4 run in the final five minutes to lead 47-19 at the break.

FIU continued to lead by 20-plus for nearly the first 12 minutes of the second half before a Riley three-pointer made it 69-50 in favor of the Panthers with 7:12 remaining.

With FIU stretching their lead back to 22 (75-53), the Trailblazers ripped off a 10-0 run over a three-and-half minutes stretch to whittle the Panthers' lead down to 75-63 with 2:16 to play.

A three-point play by Ariyibi made it 77-66 with 77 seconds remaining, but that would be as close as the Trailblazers could get as they outscored FIU by 14 points in the second half.

Numbers to Know

• It was the second meeting against FIU after defeating the Panthers, 96-92 in overtime in St. George last season.
• After shooting only 26.9 percent (7-26) from the field in the opening half, the Trailblazers shot 50 percent (14-28) in the second half to shoot 38.9 percent (21-54) in the contest.
• The Trailblazers also shot 28 percent (7-25) from three-point range and 70.8 percent (17-24) from the free throw line.
• FIU countered shooting 54.5 percent (30-55) from the field, 43.8 percent (7-16) from beyond the arc and 59.1 percent (13-22) from the line.
• Utah Tech nabbed a season-high 13 steals with a career-best four from Ariyibi.
• UT led FIU in points off turnovers (20-19), but the Panthers held the edge in points in the paint (40-24) and bench points (27-16).

Up Next
The Trailblazers return home to open WAC play hosting UT Arlington (7-7) on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. at Burns Arena.