Box Score LAKELAND, Fla.- Some nights you have it, some nights you don't. The Fire looked out of sync Thursday night, as they lost to the St. Thomas Bobcats 83-76. This was the second straight home loss for the Fire; a very rare occurrence for a team that lost only one game at home in all of last year.
SEU (12-7, 6-4 TSC) led by three (26-23) with 5:29 left in the half after a layup by Tim Mitchell, but a quick seven points turned the tide back the way of the Bobcats. Another 7-0 run to close the half by St. Thomas gave them a 41-31 lead at the intermission.
The Fire trailed by double digits for almost the entire second half, and trailed by as many as 17 at one point. The Fire did their best to mount a comeback with 2:57 left in the game; a basket by Mitchell cut the Bobcats (10-9, 5-5 TSC) lead to 9. Another Mitchell basket with 1:14 to go cut the lead to four, but the Bobcats were able to convert their free throws to put the game out reach.
Costly turnovers killed the Fire as they piled up 20 turnovers; their most since a loss at Johnson & Wales January 10th. They were also -11 on the boards, as they were out-rebounded by the Bobcats 39-28.
Mitchell was one of the bright spots for the Fire. The senior finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds, and a season high five blocks. Dana Thomas and Andre' Winston scored 16 and 15 points, respectively, and Larry Taylor scored seven points and a game-high five assists.
Southeastern will continue conference play Saturday, as they'll travel to Lake Wales to take on cross-county rival Warner in another pivotal Sun Conference matchup. Gametime is set for 4pm.
