LAKELAND, Fla.—Freshman
Riley Minix didn't have his best night, but hit the shot his team needed to come away with a key Sun Conference win.
Minix caught a pass from
Karl Jeanty on the right wing with 33 seconds to play and his team down two, and calmly knocked down the shot with a hand in his face to help Southeastern defeat Warner 72-71.
"I was in foul trouble all night, but the coaches and my teammates kept talking to me and keeping my confidence up," said Minix.
Minix had been in double figures in each of the last nine games, and ended with six tonight.
"Riley is a winner," said coach
Kevin Lubbers. "He competes every single day and doesn't hang his head, doesn't pout, and puts the team first in everything he does. I can't say enough not just about that shot, but just the way he stayed with it. I thought everyone on the floor and on the bench were fully engaged and we needed all of them to play our best today."
Isaiah Moody had back-to-back baskets for the Fire (18-7, 11-3 TSC) to put the Fire up 64-54 with 8:05 to play, giving SEU its biggest lead of the game. Warner answered with an 11-0 run over the next 4:00 to take a one-point lead.
Over the final 3:47, the game was tied twice and the lead changed three times. After a Darryl Mercer 3-pointer to put Warner up 68-67 with 2:53 left, the Royals went 0-for-4 from the field the balance of the game.
The Royals had one last chance with a half-court shot that went off the left side of the rim as time expired.
"We had a hard week last week with two losses," said Lubbers. "We didn't execute the way we needed to and didn't think we had the hunger we needed to be successful so it was great to see our guys get up off the mat and put forth a determined, hungry effort for 40 minutes against a really good Warner team."
Dylan Patrick led the way for the Fire with 18 points, all in the first half, going a perfect 4-for-4 from 3-point range.
Jeremy Oppenheimer joined him in double figures with 12 points, and had four rebounds, five assists, and three steals.
Karl Jeanty had a double-double effort of 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Fire return to action on Saturday at Webber International at 4 p.m.
