Middle Tennessee 70, FIU 59

Published Jan. 12, 2012 11:18 p.m. ET

foxsports

Middle Tennessee got 36 points from its starters and 34 off the bench to beat FIU 70-59 on Thursday night.

Raymond Cintron and Shawn Jones paced the well-balanced Blue Raiders (16-2, 5-0 Sun Belt Conference) with 10 points each. Eleven of the 15 Middle Tennessee players that saw time scored.

The Blue Raiders, who won their eighth straight, led 29-26 at halftime, before pulling away in the second half.

Middle Tennessee, which shot just 9 of 27 in the first half, going 1 of 10 from 3-point range, connected on 52 percent from the field (13 of 25) in the second.

The Panthers (4-12, 1-3) were just 7-of-24 shooting after halftime.

Middle Tennessee scored 28 points off 18 FIU turnovers.

The Panthers were led by Dominique Ferguson with 20 points and Jeremy Allen with 19 points and 11 rebounds.