Middle Tennessee defeats FIU 69-52

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Shawn Jones and Marcus Knight scored 15 points each to pace Middle Tennessee to a 69-52 victory over Florida International Saturday night in Sun Belt Conference action.

It was the seventh straight victory for the Blue Raiders (10-3, 2-0) over FIU (4-7, 1-3).

Middle Tennessee scored the game’s first eight points. The Blue Raiders led 28-21 at halftime, then outscored FIU 41-31 in the second half to win comfortably.

Jones also took 13 rebounds for a double-double, and Knight just missed one with nine rebounds. Raymond Cintron came off the Middle Tennessee bench to score 12 points on four 3-pointers.

For the Golden Panthers, Tymell Murphy scored 13 points. Jerome Frink and Malik Smith had 10 each.

Middle Tennessee outrebounded FIU 41-21, 15-3 on the offensive glass. The Blue Raiders shot 43.4 percent from the field (23 of 53) to FIU’s 38.8 percent (19 for 49).