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Taurence Johnson and Harry Lum each had 15 points to help Florida International snap a five-game losing streak and beat Sam Houston St. 70-51 on Saturday night in the first round of the FIU Holiday Classic.
The Golden Panthers (3-7) will play Drexel in Sunday's tournament championship game. Sam Houston St. will face Hartford in the consolation contest.
Byron Burnett had 11 points and Raphael daSilva added 10 for Florida International, which shot 69.2 percent in the second half and 59.6 percent for the game. The Golden Panthers also held a 37-25 rebounding edge.
Chris Jordan had 19 points for Sam Houston St. (4-5). Jordan made 8 of 12 shots from the floor; the rest of the Bearkats combined to shoot only 10-for-43 (23.3 percent) in the game.
Sam Houston St.'s
two leading scorers, Joe Thompson and Ryan Griffin, combined to shoot 2-for-13
and score eight points -- more than 17 below the duo's average. Kelvin Williams
had a game-high six steals for the Bearkats.
Tom Frericks scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds and Reggie Bryant scored 18 points as Saint Louis beat Butler 72-54 on Saturday.
The Bulldogs (4-6) missed 15 straight shots from the field to start the second half as Saint Louis pulled ahead 51-32. Ticketmaster. Avery Sheets scored the only points for Butler with three free throws during the slump.
Sheets broke the drought with 11:03 to play to spark a brief run for the Bulldogs. Butler pulled within 56-44 with 7:25 left, but came no closer.
Anthony Drejaj hit two 3-pointers in an 11-2 run and Saint Louis led 67-46 with 3:41 left.
Sheets scored 25 points to lead Butler, which lost its fourth consecutive road game, and Bruce Horan scored 10.
Drejaj scored 14 and Chris Sloan added 11 as Saint Louis snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
Saint Louis dominated the boards, outrebounding Butler 41-22, and connected on 54 percent of its shots. Butler shot 32 percent.
The Billikens pulled ahead with a 10-0 run late in the first half to gain a 37-27 lead. A Sheets basket made it 37-29 at halftime.