LAKELAND, Fla.—Leading by 13 with 12:27 to go, and shooting lights-out, it looked like Southeastern was about to knock off 10
th ranked Warner in its first home game of 2016.
A 9-0 run by the Royals late in the second half, put them in a position to force overtime and come away with an 80-71 win over the Fire to improve to 11-3.
Warner (2-0 TSC) held the Fire scoreless for 4:19 during the 9-0, and forced five turnovers over the final 8:25 of regulation. The Royals forced a total of 23 turnovers on the night, committing just nine of their own.
A free throw by Warner's Jamie Anderson tied the game at 60 with 11 seconds remaining in regulation, The Fire were unable to get a shot off on the final possession.
Jake Hodges scored his team-high 20
th point of the night just 16 seconds into the extra session, but the Royals came away with the next 17 to take a 77-62 lead with 45 seconds left in overtime. A 3-pointer by Jamie Anderson with 3:01 gave Warner its first lead of the night. The Royals were 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 in overtime.
Southeastern committed four turnovers in overtime.
"We were unable to make plays to close out the game," said coach
R-Jay Barsh. "We had to play with lineups we haven't played with all year due to a lack of a big man. In overtime, you have to be able to run a play and get off a shot, and we couldn't."
The Fire (10-6, 0-3 TSC) score the first seven points of the game, keeping Warner off the scoreboard for the first 4:55 of the contest. In the first half, the Fire converted 46% from the field, and hit four 3-pointers to take a 30-26 lead at the intermission.
A 10-2 run gave Southeastern a 54-41 lead with 12:27 to go in the second half, during which Warner was 1-of-5 from the field.
Hodges was 8-of-15 from the field, converted three 3-pointers, and grabbed eight rebounds.
Larry Taylor added 17 points and nine rebounds.
Caleb Konieczny scored 12 points and had six rebounds.
The Fire return to action on Friday in Miami Gardens against St. Thomas University at 8 p.m.
