Box Score LAKELAND, Fla.- With third through eighth place up for grabs in The Sun Conference, the Fire made a case to be towards the top half of that group with a 94-85 win over Webber International Wednesday night.
The Warriors are also in the same mix with Southeastern, and took an early 9-3 lead 2:30 into the contest. Guard Brian Pace was the key catalyst in the first half, scoring 16 of his team-high 18 points in the first half, and propelled his team to a 16-10 lead with 15:05 left, knocking down a 3-pointer.
Southeastern (15-11, 9-8 TSC) answered with a 19-4 run to build a 29-20 lead. Andre' Winston was responsible for 10 of those points, and finished the night with 18 points. Webber International (11-18, 8-9 TSC) rallied to tie the game at 36, then took a 4-point lead during a 13-3 run spanning 3:30. A 3-pointer by Jordan Talley with 32 seconds left in the half tied the game at 42, but a basket by Webber's Nate Morrell gave the guests a 44-42 lead at the break.
Webber took its biggest lead of the game with 17:54 left, up 52-46, but the Fire were able to respond, and tie the game on a layup by Tana Pritchard with 15:45 to go. A free throw by Winston on the ensuing possession gave the Fire the lead back.
With the game tied at 58 and 13:40 to go, SEU started to pull away, building a six-point lead with 11:03 to go on a layup by Dana Thomas, who led all scorers with a season-high 24 points. The senior also added nine rebounds, an assist, and two steals.
The first double-digit lead came after a free throw by Tim Mitchell with 1:14 to go, putting the Fire up 86-76.
A total of 50 fouls were called in the game. The Fire ended up shooting 45 free throws, sinking 33 to go 73% at the line. The Warriors were just 57% at the free throw line to go along with hitting just seven of their 24 3-point attempts (29%).
Pritchard recorded his first double-double with the Fire, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Mitchell also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and added four blocks. Talley added 14 off the bench for the Fire.
Southeastern returns to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. for Senior Day as they host Florida Memorial.
