LAKELAND, Fla.— After holding an 18 point lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Southeastern was unable to close out their contest against a resilient Royals team and fell in overtime, 94-85.
In the first half, the Fire shot extremely well from behind the arc, making seven of their 12 attempts (58.33%) compared to Warner's mere 3-13 (23.08%). This charge was led by
CJ Reese and
Harrison Hebert, who knocked down a combined five of their eight shots from long distance.
The Fire inched ahead of Warner by utilizing this hot shooting and an ability to get to the free throw line. Heading into the break, Southeastern led the #6 team in the country by nine, 47-38.
The second half started just as the first half had ended. Southeastern used a 14-5 run early in the half, fueled by seven of Deshaun Wilcox's nine points on the night, to extend their advantage to 18 with 11:59 left in the game.
Then the Warner charge started.
Due to Warner's aggressive full-court press defense, the Fire turned the ball over four times in a span of six minutes, allowing the Royals to creep back into contention and cut their deficit to five.
Adam Giger, who was held scoreless in the first half then hit two huge 3pt baskets within 30 seconds of playing time to cut the Fire lead to two with a minute remaining. Giger ended the competition with 19 points. After a plethora of turnovers, Southeastern continued to struggle in the final minutes, and their advantage was eliminated on a Nick Macon fadeaway jumper with six seconds left in regulation.
The Royals controlled the overtime period from start to finish. They continued to get to the free throw line and started extra time on a 7-0 run, behind another three from Giger. The Fire's only field goal of the extra period came on a layup by Reese with 1:10 left, which proved to be too little, too late for Southeastern.
While Warren Hall wasn't consistent from the field for the Royals, he got to the charity stripe, where he earned 15 of his game-high 33 points. Hall also added eight rebounds.
For the Fire, Reese ended the night with a team-high 25 points and six assists, while newcomers Jeremy Opponheimer and Hebert recorded 13 and 18 points, respectively.
Wesley Johnson, who battled foul trouble throughout the game, led SEU by grabbing a total of eight rebounds.
The Fire will continue conference play on the road at Florida Memorial on Saturday at 4pm.
