LAKELAND, Fla.—A game that featured seven ties and nine lead changes came down to the last two possessions.
Southeastern junior
Riley Minix drew a foul with four seconds to play and made a pair of free throws to give the Fire a 74-72 lead and
Jordan Gorman blocked Antwaan Cushingberry's attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to seal the win over top-ranked Saint Francis at The Furnace.
Minix scored SEU's final seven points of the game over the last four minutes of the contest. He finished with a game-high 29 points and had eight rebounds.
The Cougars (10-4) to a 70-66 lead with 3:12 to play on a dunk by David Ejah, then a one-shot technical for flopping. After trading baskets, the Fire were able to tie the game at 72 with 58 seconds to play after a steal by Minix who finished the play with a layup. Cushingberry missed a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession and
Riley Matticks came away with the rebound to set up the game-winning possession.
Southeastern (9-2) trailed 19-13 with 12:01 left to play in the first half but Gorman answered on the next possession with a 3-pointer and Minix turned a
Ralph Diaz steal into a layup to make it a one-point game. After a make by Naylon Thompson with 8:38 left in the half, the Fire scored the next 13 points of the game as Saint Francis missed its next seven shots and powered by five points off the bench by
Joshua Blazquez.
The Fire carried a 39-30 lead into halftime, but the Cougars used a 13-2 run over the first 4:25 of the second to regain the lead. A pair of 3-pointers by Gorman sandwiched a 3-pointer by
Reggie Mesidor to put Southeastern up 50-45.
Gorman finished with 11 points and had three assists and two blocks. Mesidor had 12 points and three assists, leading the way for the Fire bench which outscored the Saint Francis bench 22-5.
As a team, the Fire connected on 12 3-pointers at a 41% success rate and held the Cougars which came in over 40% from 3-point range as a team to 8-of-27 (29.6%).
Southeastern returns to action on Monday against Brewton-Parker at 2 p.m.
