LAKELAND, Fla. – The Southeastern men's basketball team rung in the New Year with a dominant 89-58 win over the Webber International University Warriors. The win was the first Sun Conference win of the season for the Fire.
SEU played aggressive basketball from the onset of the contest, using a 12-2 run during the 18:05 to 13:40 stretch to jump out to an early 23-9 lead. Junior guard C.J. Reese continued his hot hand, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the field in the first half, scoring 10 points, and recording three steals.
However, one of the main catalysts for the Fire was the physical play of their forwards. Senior forward
Josue Celestin was a strong presence on the boards, pulling in nine first half rebounds. He finished the night with 13 rebounds and 10 points scored, notching his second double-double of the season.
Junior forward Wes Johnson also turned in a noteworthy performance in the first half. The Charleston Southern transfer scored 11, pulled in six rebounds, and three blocks in the half.
The Fire carried a 48-31 lead into halftime. The Warriors were never able to cut the deficit to any closer than that 17 point deficit in the second half.
Johnson continued his block party in the second half with three more shot attempts stuffed. The six blocks total on the contest was a season-high for Johnson.
As a whole, the Fire defense created fits for the Warriors. SEU held Webber to just 34.5 percent shooting from the field and did not surrender a single three point made in the second half.
Senior guard Daniel Coffey was averaging a team leading 18.9 points per game for the Warriors. He was held to seven points, his second lowest scoring total of the season.
"I'm proud of the defensive effort. We've been really hard on them as a staff in coaching the defensive end and understanding personnel and this is probably the first time this year where it correlated and showed in full for 40 minutes," shared Head Coach
R-Jay Barsh
Freshman guard
Jeremy Oppenheimer had no issues heating up in The Furnace, scoring a team high 20 points. In his last five games, Oppenheimer is averaging 17.2 points.
The Fire will have little rest to prepare for their next conference opponent. SEU will host Johnson & Wales University on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
