Florida International 86, UW-Milwaukee 83: Late three-point play sinks Panthers

MIAMI - The UW-Milwaukee men’s basketball team was on the down end of a see-saw battle Tuesday night.

Osasumwen Osaghae’s three-point play with 11 seconds left was the difference as Florida International outlasted the Panthers, 86-83, at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.

Osaghae, a 6-foot-7, 250-pound forward, got the ball in the paint and scored. He was fouled by UWM’s Vance Johnson and sank the ensuing free throw.

BOX SCORE:Florida International 86, UWM 83

UWM did have a chance to answer, but Darius Roy missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

Wil Sessoms gave UWM its last lead at 78-77 when he hit a jumper with 3 minutes, 50 seconds to go.

Osaghae scored Florida International’s last seven points. His layup with 2 minutes to go gave the team an 83-78 lead.

UWM (0-3) battled back and tied it at 83-83 on a layup by Johnson with 31 seconds left.

Florida International (3-0) took a timeout with 26 seconds remaining to set up the winning play.

UWM got off to a fast start as it shot 50% from long range en route to a 50-44 lead at the intermission.

Roy, who led UWM 19 points, had 13 in the first half.

But the Panthers went cold from downtown in the second half, hitting just 1 of 8 three-point attempts.

Sessoms finished with 17 points. D’Andre Abram added 11 and Carson-Warren Newsome had 10.

Florida International was led by Brian Beard Jr.’s 19 points. Devon Andrews had 17 and Marcus Burwell finished with 12. The burly Osaghae had 10 points and 15 rebounds.