Men's Basketball Preparing For Three Game Week

LAKELAND, FLA.-- Southeastern saw some encouraging things over this past week, but there were some mixed results that will need to fixed in a hurry.

The 24th-ranked Fire held off a furious rally by Florida Memorial, keeping the Lions scoreless in the last 15 seconds despite them having three opportunities to take the lead or tie.  An intense ending finished with the Fire on top, 91-89.

Against Florida Memorial, four Fire starters scored in double digits and two went over the 20-point mark.  Jake Hodges scored 27 points on 9-17 shooting from the field, including 6-9 from beyond the arc.  Larry Taylor recorded 21 points and dished out five assists.  Caleb Konieczny finished with 17 points and six rebounds, while Matt Crowe dropped 13 to go with four rebounds and three assists.

The Johnson & Wales University Wildcats came to The Furnace on Saturday afternoon.  Recently, the Fire have had a hard time against the Wildcats; Johnson & Wales swept the season series last year and dismantled Southeastern earlier this year by a score of 99-64.  

In the first half, it seemed as if their struggles against Johnson & Wales were a thing of the past.  The shooting was as hot as ever in the first 20 minutes; the team as a whole shot 53% from the field and a blistering 57.9% (11-19) from the 3-point line.  Larry Taylor dropped 20 of his career-high 36 points in the first half.

The second half was a different story.  The notorious Wildcats defense that ranks second in NAIA Division II came to life; the Fire offense had a difficult time getting a clean look at the basket.  Southeastern's field goal percentage dropped all the way down to 22% from the field and 18% from the arc in the second half as Johnson & Wales took over the game on their way to an 88-77 win.

Southeastern will have to shake off the tough loss and regroup for a three-game Sun Conference week.  The Fire will be entering the toughest part of their schedule as they'll play #7 Keiser, #11 Warner, and St. Thomas, who the Fire beat by one point the last time they faced off.

On Tuesday, the Fire will drive down to West Palm Beach to face the seventh-ranked Keiser University Seahawks.?  Keiser is 19-2 this season and 7-1 in Sun Conference play.  The Seahawks most recently dropped their first conference game in a surprising two-point loss to St. Thomas.

The meal ticket for Keiser is their defense.  They rank first in all of NAIA Division II in defensive 3-pt percentage, holding opposing offenses to 27.9% shooting from beyond the arc.  The Seahawks rank second in defensive FG percentage as a whole, keeping teams at 38.2%.  

Southeastern will be have their hands full as they'll have to deal with Stanley Wittaker and Deion McClenton.  Wittaker ranks first in NAIA DII in assists per game (7.1) and steals per game (2.5).  McClenton averages 15.6 points per game and ranks third in NAIA DII in offensive rebounds per game, with 4.1 per contest.

After that game, the Fire will have a day off before going to Lake Wales to play county rival Warner.  The Royals are ranked 11th so far this year, recording a 14-5 overall record and going 5-2 in conference play.  

Warner and Southeastern faced off earlier this month, with the Fire losing in overtime in a heartbreaking loss.  The Fire were leading for the vast majority of the game until the Royals clawed their way back into the game with 11 seconds left in regulation to force overtime.  In overtime, the Royals took over with a 17-2 run to put Southeastern away by a score of 81-70.

The Fire will make sure that they focus on Warren Hall.  Hall is the backbone of the Royals offense, and dropped 33 points against the Fire in their previous matchup earlier this month.  The guard ranks seventh in NAIA DII in points per game with 23.3.  

Eddie Delegal will also be someone that the Fire will have to contain; the forward put up a double-double in their previous matchup, scoring 15 points and collecting 13 rebounds.  The senior averages 9.6 rebounds per contest.

After the Warner game, Southeastern will have a day off before hosting St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon.  The last time the two teams faced off, the Fire were down by two points with ten seconds to play.  A clutch three-ball by Matt Crowe proved to be the game-winner as the Fire escaped with a 79-78 win.

The Bobcats are 10-7 this season and 4-3 in Sun Conference play.  One of the main keys for the Fire will be shutting down Michael Walker.  The junior leads the team in points per game (16.1), assists per game (4.2), steals per game (2.1), and blocks (10).

Saturday's game is scheduled for 4 p.m. in The Furnace.  You can keep up with the action on Twitter by following @SEUFireMBB.?