MIAMI, Fla. – North Dakota (2-4) held the lead until just under the seven-minute mark, but a pair of scoring droughts in the final minutes and an 8-0 Florida International (5-1) run in the last three minutes allowed FIU to cap the comeback with a 65-56 win on Wednesday morning.

Paul Bruns was the most productive Fighting Hawk with a season high of 18 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Ethan Igbanugo and Tsotne Tsartsidze were second in points with 10 apiece and also shared the team-lead in assists with three each. Tsartsidze cleaned the glass with a team-high six boards, while blocking one shot and recording a steal. Igbanugo also had one steal on the morning.

Brady Danielson led the team in steals with two.

Tevin Brewer finished with 12 points and eight assists to lead the Golden Panthers.

Despite UND winning the rebounding battle 22-20 at the half, FIU finished with a 42-31 advantage in boards at the end of the contest. Both teams had shooting slumps in points of the game and North Dakota finished with a shooting percentage of 34.4 percent, compared to Florida International hitting 42.3 percent of its shots. The FIU bench outscored the UND reserves 27-24 and finished with a 28-24 edge in points in the paint.

The Fighting Hawks led the entire game up until the 6:41 point in the second half when Javaunte Hawkins knocked down a three-pointer to put the Golden Panthers up 52-51 and to give them their first lead of the morning, capping a 7-0 FIU run to go with a five and a half minute scoring drought for UND.

Florida International increased its run to 12-0 before Bruns trimmed the deficit to 57-56 after a jumper and made three with 3:18 left in the contest. The Golden Panthers capped the comeback with an 8-0 run to hold on for the 65-56 victory.

Prior to that point, North Dakota had led the entire game, starting with a Bentiu Panoam make from downtown to put the Hawks up 3-0 early. UND increased its lead to 12-7 by the first media timeout, while holding FIU scoreless for nearly four minutes.

By the under-eight media timeout in the first half, North Dakota led 17-12 and forced five Florida International turnovers in less than five minutes. The Fighting Hawks increased its lead up to 10 at 24-14 with five minutes to go before the half, highlighted by a Tsartsidze layup and then five straight points from Caleb Nero. Bruns made a driving layup and the and-one free throw to build the lead up to 30-24 at the break.

The Golden Panthers looked poised to make a run early in the second half after back-to-back alley oops to Seth Pinkney from Brewer, but Igbanugo put an end to the run with a shot from beyond the arc to break the 30-30 tie and put UND back up at 33-30 with 17:49 left in the contest.

Bruns went 3-for-3 at the line shortly after and another Igbanugo triple increased the UND lead to 39-31 with 16:15 to go in regulation. Bruns had a steal and went coast-to-coast on the next possession to push the Fighting Hawk lead back up to 10 at 41-31 before the under-16 media timeout.

Florida International then outscored North Dakota 21-10 in the next nine minutes to find its first lead of the contest, hitting 9-of-11 shots in those nine minutes and making three triples while only turning the ball over twice. In the final nine minutes of the contest shooting went cold for the Fighting Hawks and the Golden Panthers used a 20-5 run to hold on for the win.

North Dakota will now turn its attention to Kansas State. The Fighting Hawks and Wildcats will square off in Manhattan on Sunday with opening tip scheduled for 4 p.m.