LAKELAND, Fla.—The Southeastern University men's basketball team needed overtime to down the William Jessup Warriors 98-85. Senior Jeremy Oppenheimer couldn't be stopped and totaled a career-high 38 points in the win.
Oppenheimer commented on the team's performance, "We had a good team win, everybody stepped up, Reggie [Mesidor] hit big shots, Malcolm [Holman], Dylan [Patrick] had big minutes, the bigs, it was just a good team effort and the guys just trusted me to lead. I just try to lead by example. If I'm on the floor, if I'm hustling, if I'm making the extra pass I believe that trickles down to the rest of the guys."
The two teams went back and forth in the first half as the game was tied at 22 with 9:33 remaining until halftime. The Warriors went on an 18-7 run that gave them an 11-point advantage with 1:41 left in the half and would take that lead into the locker room.
Junior forward Karl Jeanty impressed early for the Fire, nearly tallying a first-half double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
As a team the Fire shot 46.4% from the field in the first half of play and outrebounded the Warriors 24-18.
Oppenheimer gave his team a bucket whenever they needed it in the first half to keep the game close, and that continued in the second half.
After 13 points in the opening half, Oppenheimer picked up where he left off converting an acrobatic and-one to cut the deficit to eight for the opening points of the second half. William Jessup wouldn't let up, however, and stretched their lead to 60-48 with just under 14 minutes to play. Southeastern found their rhythm and went on a 17-7 run that got them within two of the Warriors with 7:54 to play. During that stretch, Oppenheimer scored or assisted on nine points for the Fire as he found Alowei Talent-Fitzgerald, Devon Ford, Malcolm Holman, and Riley Minix for key baskets. He would go on to finish with a 38-point, 10-assist double-double.
Minutes later trailing 72-67, freshman Reggie Mesidor knocked down back to back shots from beyond the arc to give Southeastern its first lead since the early going.
William Jessup hit a three that tied the game with thirty seconds left and sent the game to overtime.
The Fire outscored the Warriors 15-2 in overtime to secure the victory. Oppenheimer went 6-6 from the free throw line to close the door on William Jessup.
Mesidor got the nod in the starting lineup and responded with 15 points. Talent-Fitzgerald, Minix, and Holman contributed off the bench, combining for 25 points and 19 rebounds.
The Fire host Welsh University tomorrow at 2 p.m. in an exhibition.
