LAKELAND, Fla.—Despite the loss on Saturday, the No. 17 Southeastern University men's basketball team clinched the Sun Conference regular season championship and are set to host the semifinal and championship games this weekend as the top seed. They get a chance to avenge the 83-73 loss that Ave Maria handed them less than a week ago.
The Fire squandered a 16-point lead they built in the first half in Saturday's defeat. The Fire struggled offensively after
Riley Minix picked up his fifth foul of the game, forcing him to sit out the remaining 8:25. A bright spot for Southeastern was freshman
Reggie Mesidor who scored 17 points in 31 minutes of action, the most he's scored in a game all season.
Senior
Jeremy Oppenheimer added 17 points, eight rebounds, and six assists in the effort. This pushed his season assist total to 131, good for 16
th in the NAIA. Despite grabbing just three rebounds, Minix still ranks 41
st in the nation in defensive rebounds per game with 6.1.
As a team Southeastern still ranks as one of the top teams on defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 39.9% from the field which is second among Division II NAIA teams. Additionally, the Fire are third in the country in rebounds per game with 44.4, including 31.1 on defense and 13.3 on offense. Southeastern also enters play this week ranked 27
th in scoring margin, outscoring opponents by 9.034 points per game.
The Gyrenes come back to The Furnace as the fourth seed in the Sun Conference tournament. They concluded their regular season with a 19-9 record and advanced to Friday's semifinal matchup with an 89-67 win over Warner in the quarterfinals. Senior Leo Behrend led the Gyrenes to victory with 26 points and 12 rebounds. On the season, Behrend is 22.62 points per game and ranks tenth in the NAIA with 94 3-PT field goals made.
In Saturday's matchup, the Fire held Behrend to 21 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Lucas Uzdavinis came off the bench and poured in 26 points in 26 minutes, shooting 10-of-11 from the field including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.
The rematch is set for 5:00 pm on Friday, February 28.
Be sure to follow @SEUFireMBB on Twitter for all of the latest updates on the Fire!
