LAKELAND, Fla.—The Fire men's basketball team fought hard against (RV) St. Thomas University, but eventually dropped the game by a score of 87-77.
Six Southeastern turnovers in the first four minutes of the contest allowed the Bobcats to jump out to a 15-6 advantage early.
The Fire battled back to tie the game thanks to back-to-back three point baskets by Jalen McCollum. McCollum, who shot a perfect 3-3 from downtown in the first half, ended the competition with 22 points and converted on eight of his 12 field goal attempts. Southeastern went into the half trailing by only one point, 41-40.
St. Thomas spread the ball around effectively in the last 20 minutes, as six separate players recorded double-digit scoring efforts. The Bobcats, who moved to 7-3 in Sun Conference play with the win tonight, were led by Mikon Hewitt. Hewitt finished the night with a team-high 21 points on 9-13 shooting from the field. Tim Sada and Armand Shoon added 14 points each, while Raheem Bowman and Kristers Zeidaks grabbed six rebounds in addition to their double-digit scoring totals.
The Fire trailed by as many as 13 in the second half, but McCollum and freshman
Jeremy Oppenheimer seemed to have an answer every time the deficit increased. When the Fire trailed by nine halfway through the second period, Oppenheimer hit two contested jumpers in the span of a minute to make the score 60-55. McCollum and Oppenheimer accounted for every Southeastern point that was scored in the last six minutes of play; however, the Fire were unable to complete the comeback. Oppenheimer tallied 22 points on the night and assisted on six Fire buckets.
Southeastern will play Thomas University in their next game, which will take place in the Furnace on Thursday at 8pm.
