Box Score LAKELAND, Fla.- Needing a spark heading into the final week of the regular season, The Fire led Ave Maria by one points (55-54) with one minute to go.
The Fire looked to drain as much time as possible before giving the ball back to the guests, and had just a tick of the shot clock left, but the ball 30 feet from the rim. Senior Dana Thomas launched a shot at the horn and hit nothing but net to give the Fire a 58-54 lead, and their 14th win of the season.
"For our morale, and what we've gone through, this was a game we needed to win," said coach R-Jay Barsh. "That was a big time shot, and Dana deserved to make it."
Ave Maria had whittled an 11-point deficit with 11:30 to play, all the way down to one by attacking the basket and converting 11-of-14 at the free throw line.
Southeastern (14-11, 8-8 TSC) held the Gyrenes scoreless for the first six minutes of the contest, taking a 7-0 lead. However, the guests finally got the offense going with a 12-2 run to tie the game, and subsequently take their first lead of the game with 9:14 left in the first at 12-9 on a 3-pointer by Julian Adams.
Freshman Xavier Burrow answered with a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession, but a 9-3 Ave run pushed the lead to six, which would be its biggest of the game with 5:36 to play in the first.
It also jumpstarted the SEU attack, as they answered with a 14-2 run to close the half, hitting on four of their final five shots of the period. This included three straight three's by Larry Taylor, then two by Caleb Konieczny.
The second half advantage for SEU hit 11 on two different occasions- once with 15:05 left on a 3-pointer by Thomas, then at the 11:30 mark on a basket by Tim Mitchell, capitalizing on a Gyrene turnover.
Mitchell led all scorers with 14 points, and collected a game-high eight rebounds, and also blocked four shots. Taylor added nine points, two rebounds, and two assists. Tana Pritchard also added eight points, grabbed three rebounds, had a block, an assist, and two steals.
The Fire return to action on Wednesday when they host county rival Webber International at 7:30 p.m.
