LAKELAND, Fla. – After finishing off what was a tough slate of non-conference play, the Southeastern men's basketball team posted a pair of impressive home Sun Conference victories this past week over Webber International and Johnson & Wales. Both games marked the largest margin of victories in Sun Conference play for SEU in program history. The Fire will look to carry their momentum in conference play onto the road this week.
GAMES: St. Thomas University (10-6, 2-3 TSC) vs. Southeastern (11-7, 2-3 TSC) Thursday 7 p.m. | Webber International University (6-11, 1-5 TSC) vs. Southeastern (11-7, 2-3 TSC) Saturday 4 p.m.
COVERAGE: St. Thomas: Live Stats Live Video Webber: Live Stats Live Video
OPPEN FOR BUSINESS: Freshman guard
Jeremy Oppenheimer has been building confidence game by game as of late. In his first nine games of the season, Oppenheimer averaged 11.2 points per game, shot 38.8% from the field including 30.3% from three point range, and turned the ball over 26 times. However, in his last nine games, he is averaging 15.4 points per game, shooting 42.3% from the field including 38.9% from behind the arc, and has cut his turnovers in half to 13. During that stretch, the Zephyrhills native has seen single game career-highs in points scored (29), three pointers made (4), assists (8), and rebounds (9).
PREVIOUSLY ST. THOMAS: The Fire and the Bobcats split the pair of regular season meetings last season. The first game was a thriller in Miami Gardens, where
Matt Crowe knocked down a three point shot with 1.2 seconds to play in the game to give the Fire a 79-78 buzzer beater win. In the second matchup, a cold second half of perimeter shooting (25%) doomed the Fire at home as they fell 82-72. The two teams have split the regular season series for the past four seasons. The Bobcats lead the all-time series 8-5 since SEU joined the NAIA in 2009.
PREVIOUSLY WEBBER: In the 89-58 win over the Warriors last week, the Fire limited their top-scorer Daniel Coffey to seven points, his second lowest scoring total of the season. SEU also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Webber 53-29. Southeastern now leads the all-time series 8-7 since joining the NAIA in 2009.
THE BOBCATS: After bursting out to an 8-0 start and peaking as high as No. 21 in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 poll, St. Thomas has cooled off as of late. The Bobcats have lost six of their last eight including three straight conference losses. Most recently, STU suffered an 88-69 defeat on the road at the hands of No. 5 Warner University. The Bobcats have struggled mightily at protecting the rock, averaging 21 turnovers per game in their last three contests. One bright spot for STU has been 6-11 sophomore center Raheem Bowman. The Chester, Penn. Native is averaging 16.7 points and 11.4 rebounds per game this season. Bowman is coming off a 14 point game versus Warner where he hauled in a monstrous 23 boards.
THE WARRIORS: Webber International bounced back from a tough outing versus Southeastern with a strong showing against TSC first place No. 22 Florida Memorial. The Warriors led the Lions in the second half by ten points at one point. However, FMU chipped away at the deficit and tied the game up at the end of regulation to send things to overtime. Webber surrendering a buzzer beating layup as time expired in OT to fall to Florida Memorial 91-89. Coffey bounced back from a tough outing versus SEU, scoring 22 points.
