AVE MARIA, Fla. - Behind Isaac Barsh's first double-double of the season, Southeastern captured their eighth straight win over Ave Maria University this evening. With a 79-59 victory over the Gyrenes, the Fire remain an unblemished 5-0 in conference play.
Throughout the year, the Fire have been notorious for making timely in game adjustments. Initially, the Gyrenes combatted the fast-pace offense of the Fire to some extent. The two teams exchanged baskets for the opening minutes of action, until the Fire started pulling away at the 10-10 mark. A layup by Wesley Johnson ignited a 7-0 run, giving the Fire a 17-10 lead.
The Fire proceeded to take a 44-34 lead into the locker room behind some efficient shooting from the charity stripe, and lock-down defense. Southeastern's dynamic defense held the Gyrenes to a 41% field goal percentage in the opening 20 minutes of play
Both Ryan Atkins and CJ reese took advantage of their trips to the foul line shooting 5-6 and 4-4, respectively.
Barsh led the Fire out of the locker room for the final half and mirrored the first half efforts of Atkins. The native of Tacoma, Washington tallied 13 points shooting 6-7 from the floor. Barsh's rebounding play did not take a back seat to his impressive scoring night. The senior ended the night with 10 rebounds and 21 points, while shooting 85% from the floor.
On the other side of the hardwood, the Gyrenes had no shortage of offensive contributors. A respectable 11 point night by a pair of starters was duplicated off the bench by Josh Flowers. Flowers had 11 of Ave's 19 bench points.
Although, the Gyrenes had several members in double-digits, the Fire's supporting cast consisting of Reese and Grant Bryant turned in another solid night. Reese ended with 15 points and an assist to his name, while Bryant collected 12 points and seven rebounds.
Offensive rebounding proved to be a valuable tool for the Fire as they were able to generate nine second chance points.
With their win tonight, head coach R-Jay Barsh is now two wins away from 100 career victories.
The Fire will back back at home on December 15th as they take on #3 St. Francis at 8 p.m.
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