Beard Jr. helps FIU escape Charlotte 89-83

Mar 2, 2018, 02:54 am

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Brian Beard Jr. had 23 points, five rebounds, six assists and four steals and powered a late run to help Florida International beat Charlotte 89-83 on Thursday night.

The Golden Panthers (14-16, 8-9 Conference USA) needed Beard's late effort to get their third straight win as the 49ers led 79-78 on Jon Davis' layup with 2:47 left. Beard then scored all the points in FIU's 9-0 run to pull away for good.

Davis had 37 points and seven assists and Andrien White scored 28 for Charlotte (5-23, 1-16), which lost its 15th straight -- the third-longest active losing streak in Division I. Davis was one point short of his career high that he set against Marshall on Jan. 11.

FIU led by as many as 13 in the first half and had the lead for nearly 35 minutes.

Eric Lockett had 24 points and eight boards for the Panthers. Trejon Jacob added 17 points and Michael Douglas scored 10.