Box Score KINGSPORT, Tenn.- The RV Southeastern University men's basketball team rallied in the second half, but ultimately came up short 76-75 to the West Virgnia Tech Golden Bears in their first game of The Show Invitational.
Free throw woes played a key part in the Fire defeat, as SEU went 20-36 (55.6%) at the charity stripe on the day.
The Golden Bears went 15-18 at the free throw line in the first half and held the Fire to 31% shooting from the field, as Southeastern trailed 41-33 heading into the locker room.
SEU made major adjustments in the second half which reflected on the scoreboard. The Fire shot 50% (15-30) from the field in the second half. After scoring just two points in the first half, junior forward
Riley Minix went 7-15 from the field and dropped 17 points on the Golden Bears throughout the final 20 minutes of action.
The Fire generated a momentous 11-0 run midway through the second half to trim the WVU Tech lead to 54-49 with 13:00 to go in second half.
A Minix free throw with 9:17 to go in regulation gave the Fire their first lead since 11:53 to go in the first half.
There were a total of nine lead changes between Southeastern and West Virginia Tech throughout the final nine minutes of play.
Leading 75-74, SEU missed two crucial free throws with 46 seconds to go in the game that opened the door for the Golden Bears to sink two free throws of their own with eight seconds to go that proved to be the game winning points.
The Fire look to bounce back tomorrow in Kingsport versus the RV Union College Bulldogs at 12:45 p.m.
