LAKELAND, Fla.—Winners of three of its last four, the Fire men's basketball team looks to be back on track.
The Fire went just 1-6 during the month of January, but have a chance to right a couple of wrongs from the first week of 2018 when they travel to Coastal Georgia and Thomas this week.
The national raters have noticed SEU has things flipped back around as well. SEU is just outside of the Top 25 in the receiving votes category. With four games left in the regular season, the Fire are also in the driver's seat to host a Sun Conference Tournament quarterfinal game.
Over the past four games,
Josiah Barsh has been the leading scorer three times. In his first 18 games, Barsh had scored in double figures nine times. The Tacoma, Wash. native has had six 10+ point games in his last eight appearance, including 21 on Saturday at home against Ave Maria. Barsh has also connected on 14 of his last 19 field goal attempts, and has made 15 of his last 20 3-point attempts.
In addition to Barsh, the Fire boast The Sun Conference's top scorer in
Ryan Atkins at just shy of 23 points per game.
In its first game in 2018, the Fire dropped a 74-70 contest to Thomas at The Furnace, then had a 118-111 double overtime loss to Coastal Georgia two days later. In both contests, the Fire struggled with their outside shooting, going 5-of-18 against Thomas, and 5-of-22 against CCGA. The Night Hawks were 9-of-19, and the Mariners connected on 14 3-pointers in the double OT win.
The Fire will be in Brunswick on Thursday to take on a Coastal Georgia team that has lost three of its last four. Most recently, the Mariners suffered a 94-82 setback at home to Warner. The Mariners have gone 7-4 at home this season. Haylen Washington has been nearly impossible for Sun Conference teams to control, averaging 21.5 points per game in league play, and has two games with 30 or more in league play.
Thomas has won its last three games, winning at Florida Memorial and Warner, and also picked up a convincing win at home against Webber International. Against Warner, the Night Hawks connected on 11-of-22 from 3-point range, and outrebounded the Royals 34-25. Javoris Cooks, who has over 1,300 career points, is one of the elite 3-point shooters in the NAIA, connecting on 75 this season.
To keep up with this week's action, follow @SEUFireMBB on Twitter.
