MIAMI, Fla. – The Southeastern men's basketball team never led in Thursday night's contest, as it dropped a tough one on the road to the St. Thomas University Bobcats 74-55. The loss snapped a two game Sun Conference win streak the Fire were riding.
SEU struggled to protect the ball throughout the night, allowing 18 turnovers, the highest total the Fire have allowed in their last ten games.
The struggles with turnovers as well as inconsistent shooting (36.7 FG%, 28.6% 3PT) in the first half found the Fire trailing the Bobcats 36-27 at the half.
Southeastern cut the St. Thomas lead in the second half to one possession three times. The final time coming at the 10:31 mark after a
Carlon Holder layup cut the deficit to 51-49.
However, STU finished the final 5:53 to play on a 16-3 run. The Bobcats were able to close out the game at the free throw line, going 8-10 from the charity stripe during that stretch.
The depth of St. Thomas also created problems for SEU. The Bobcats bench outscored the Fire bench 24-5. STU senior forward Kristers Zeidaks led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 8-13 from the field.
Offensive bright spots for the Fire included freshman guard
Jeremy Oppenheimer. The Zephyrhills native was tied as the leading scorer for SEU with 19 points. Junior guard
CJ Reese scored 19 points of his own, as well as totaled seven assists.
Southeastern will look to bounce back as they travel to Babson Park to take on the Webber International University Warriors on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
