Fla. International 80, Florida Atlantic 53

Published Mar. 1, 2009 3:11 a.m. ET

foxsports

Freddy Asprilla scored 18 points and had 12 rebounds to lead Florida International to an 80-53 victory over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night. Alex Galindo added 16 points for the Golden Panthers (12-19, 7-11 Sun Belt Conference), who will open the conference tournament on Wednesday. Florida Atlantic (6-25, 2-16), which also will play in the conference tournament, is 0-17 on the road this year. Florida International built on its 37-31 halftime lead by scoring the first six points of the second half for a 43-31 advantage with 18:44 left in the game. Josue Soto hit a 3-pointer to give the Golden Panthers a 48-34 lead with 17:36 remaining. Florida International shot 68.4 percent from the field (13 of 19) in the second half. Soto finished with 14 points. Paul Graham III and Carlos Monroe scored 15 points each for Florida Atlantic.