Balanced Men's Basketball Team Opens Season Tonight

LAKELAND, Fla.- With a roster comprised of eight new faces, the Southeastern University men's basketball team is poised to open the 2021-22 campaign.
 
The Fire are coming off a 12-17 2021-22 season, in which SEU advanced to The Sun Conference Tournament Quarterfinals.
 
Southeastern will take the court this season without power forward Karl Jeanty, who played in 26 games, starting 19 for the Fire last season. Jeanty averaged 8.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game last year.
 
After missing the majority of the 2020-21 season with injury, junior small forward Riley Minix is back for the Fire. Minix was The 2019-20 Sun Conference Freshman of the Year and First Team All-SUN after averaging 14.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game that season.
 
2020-21 Second Team All-SUN shooting guard Reggie Mesidor is also back for the Fire. Mesidor led SEU with 14.8 points per game last year and dished out 2.4 assists per contest. Senior point guard Riley Matticks is also back after he was the only player to start all 28 games for Southeastern last season, averaging 10 points scored and 2.9 assists per game.
 
"This group has a strong bond together. They enjoy being with each other," shared SEU head coach Kevin Lubbers, who enters his third season at the helm of the program. "Those bonds also translate to how they play on the court. This group is hungry to get things going this week."
 
Reigning Sun Conference Champion of Character Devon Ford is also back for SEU after averaging 7.6 points and totaling 21 blocks last season.
 
Graduate transfer point guard Jordan Gorman is one of the key new faces for the Fire, coming to the program from NCAA Division I Detroit Mercy, where he appeared in 28 games last season. Coach Lubbers has added another NCAA DI transfer in graduate shooting guard Mykhailo Yagodin, who appeared in 27 games and started eight at the University of Maine last year.
 
Graduate power forward Sam Brown is another key newcomer for SEU, hailing from just down the road at Florida College. At FC last season, Brown appeared in 22 contests and started 20 while averaging 6.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.
 
"We have several fresh faces and a great group of returners," added Coach Lubbers. "Each one adds different value and is needed for our team to be successful. This will be a team effort in every sense of the word."
 
The Fire open the season tonight inside The Furnace versus the Bacone College Warriors. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.