LAKELAND, Fla.—In their conference opener, the Southeastern University men's basketball team defeated St. Thomas University 85-75. Senior Jeremy Oppenheimer led the way for the Fire as he accounted for 19 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists.
Oppenheimer talked about the win, "Our defense was better today, we got stops and were able to move the ball on offense. We have a lot of guys capable of scoring so when we move the ball we get tonight's result."
Southeastern featured a multi-faceted attack as five players scored in double-digits. Head coach Kevin Lubbers commented on his team's performance, "For us it was just a matter of execution and contributions from a lot of different guys. We executed on the defensive end like we needed to. I thought our guys were very unselfish sharing the ball, we had a few in double-digits. They did a good job taking Blake (Morrow) away so other guys had to step up and make shots and we did that."
The Fire and the Bobcats traded blows through the early portion of the first half with the scored tied at 11 with 13:12 left in the half. Southeastern was able to put together a 16-6 run from that point and grew their lead to 27-17. Oppenheimer sparked the run with an and-one and delivered perfect assists to Riley Minx and Blake Morrow who converted on 3-PT field goals. Morrow returned the favor, assisting on Oppenheimer's three. Southeastern would maintain this lead as they went into halftime ahead 40-31.
The defense for the Fire was effective throughout the night as the Fire outshot the Bobcats from the field, 45.7% to 30.6%.
St. Thomas was able to cut into the Fire lead as the score was 55-52 with 10:54 remaining in the game. Southeastern would then go on a run that was capped off by a three from junior Karl Jeanty, extending the lead to 67-55. The Fire used the free-throw line to seal the victory as they shot 10-11 from the stripe to cap the win. Overall, Southeastern shot 18-24 from the line.
The Fire finished the night shooting 49.2% from the field, and converted on 7-21 3-PT field goals. Senior Blake Morrow ended up with 17 points, shooting 7-10 from the free-throw line.
Junior Alowei Talent-Fitzgerald chipped in with 11 points and six rebounds off the bench. Riley Minx and Isaiah Moody added ten points of their own, with Minx sinking both of his 3-PT attempts.
The Fire are home again on Monday November 18th when the host the University of Puerto Rico Bayamon at 5:00 pm.
