WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—The Fire put forth a valiant effort in their road matchup with #20 Keiser University, but ultimately fell by a score of 88-78.
Southeastern started and finished the first half well. They began the contest in control of the game, behind six early points and two rebounds within three minutes of play from
Josue Celestin. This run was countered by the Seahawks' offense, which went on an 11-1 run themselves.
After trailing by as many as 11 in the first period, the Fire stormed back by shooting 83% (5-6) from downtown. Using a 3-pointer by
Daniel Cartwright with 4:53 left in the half, Southeastern took their first lead (32-31) since the 14:45 mark. The Fire and the Seahawks continued to trade buckets until the buzzer; however, the Seahawks led 41-39 going into the break.
In the second half, Keiser pulled away several times, but Southeastern cut into the deficit every time the Seahawks made a move.
Keiser was led by Tyrus Weaver, who buried all four of his 3-pt attempts and finished with a team-high 18 points, while four other Seahawks tallied double-digits on the stat sheet. Deion McClenton led Keiser with seven rebounds, and Stanley Whittaker and Stefan Zecevic contributed to the offense with five and four assists, respectively.
Jeremy Oppenheimer played an integral part in making sure the game didn't get out of hand for the Fire. He scored a total of 22 points (a game-high), 15 of which came in the second half, assisted on four baskets, and grabbed five rebounds.
Wesley Johnson and Celestin both tallied six rebounds and shot a combined 10 of 12 from the field, enabling Southeastern to keep the spread manageable.
The Fire lived at the free throw line and in the paint throughout the course of the game, recording 32 attempts from the charity stripe compared to Keiser's 20 tries. Not only did Southeastern outscore the Seahawks by 10 at the free throw line, but they also added 32 points in the paint and 24 points off of turnovers.
Southeastern will return home for their next game, a matchup against Trinity College, on December 13
th at 8pm.
