MIAMI ? A game-high 24 points including 17 in the second half by Florida International’s Alex Galindo sparked the Golden Panthers to a 69-67 upset victory over South Alabama on Sunday afternoon at Pharmed Arena, snapping the second longest winning streak in the nation by the Jaguars.  With the loss, South Alabama falls to 28-8 and 13-3 in conference play.  USA was led by a team-high 22 points from junior Demetric Bennett. 

The game started as USA made six of its first 11 shots to build a 16-12 lead with 11:46 to play in the opening half.  Sophomore Brandon Davis had two big buckets, including the old fashion three-point play. 

The Jags extended the lead to 21-14 with five straight points by junior Daon Merritt with 8:35 left.  USA built a 10-pointe lead at 27-17 with two buckets by senior Leandro Buboltz and one by junior Ernest Little.   Since the 11:48 mark, USA outscored FIU 17-7 for a 32-19 lead with 3:06 to play in the half. 

For the half, USA shot 48.1 percent on 13 of 27 from the field.  The Jags were 3 of 9 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5 of 5 from the line.  Junior Demetric Bennett led the way with 10 points of 3 of 4 from the field, including two made 3-pointers and two free throws.  Merritt also was 3 of 4 from the field for seven points.  USA dominated the glass 21-13. 

FIU shot just 28 percent on 8 of 28 from the field and 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.  Alex Galindo led the Golden Panthers with seven points.

The Jags opened the second half making their five four shots and held a 44-29 lead with 15:30 left. 

USA built a 16 point lead with just over 13 minutes left in the half, but the Golden Panthers cut it back to nine points with 8:49 to play with a pair of 3-pointers by Galindo.   FIU had the game back to six, but a Bennett 3-pointer off a missed free throw pushed the lead back to nine with just under six minutes to play.

Galindo hit two huge 3-pointers to cut the deficit to three points with 4:43 left. One of two free throws by Erick Nsangou pulled the Golden Panthers even with 3:52 left.  Merritt countered with two free throws to put USA back up two with 3:30 left.

Florida International took the lead for the first time on a nice pass under the basket and score by Chris Fuller.  It was the Golden Panthers’ first lead since the first half.  Merritt hit two big buckets to pull the Jags even with 1:18 left at 66.  Merritt was fouled with 31.3 seconds left and made one. 

FIU had the ball with 27 seconds left down one.  Fuller hit an off balance 15-footer with 12 seconds left to put the Golden Panthers up 68-67.  USA had two good looks under the bucket but did not go in.

For the game, USA shot 55.3 percent on 26 of 47 from the field.  The Jags were 7 of 17 from beyond the arc and 8 of 11 from the charity stripe.  Along with Bennett, Merritt chipped in 16 points.  

Despite outshooting the Golden Panthers, USA committed a season-high 20 turnovers.

FIU shot 41.4 percent from the field and were 10 of 28 from beyond the arc.  Galindo had six 3-pointers to lead the team.  The Golden Panthers shot better in the second half as they were 16 of 30 for 53.3 percent compared to shooting 28 percent in the first half.

USA continues on the road at Florida Atlantic on Wednesday at 6 p.m. central time.