LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern recovered from some early offensive woes and an eight-point first-half deficit to come away with an 87-68 win in an intense Sun Conference battle with Warner at The Furnace Saturday night.
The Fire (8-2, 4-1 SUN) trailed by eight (24-16) with 9:29 remaining in the first after a sluggish start that saw them miss their first four field goals. In addition, Southeastern finished the first half just 2-of-8 at the free throw line and had 12 turnovers. However, a 6-of-14 effort from 3-point range helped keep them close.
Ralph Diaz scored the last four points of the half to get the Fire within a possession at 36-34 at the intermission.
A 9-0 run in the early part of the second half got the Fire a 45-40 advantage with 16:10 left, then used a 10-0 run to go up 60-46 with 10:15 left.
Riley Minix had eight during the 10-0 run after being limited to just three points in six minutes in the first half due to foul trouble.
Warner (8-4, 4-1 SUN) had some shooting problems of their own, going 2-of-13 from 3-point range in the first half and 3-of-15 in the second. Joseph Martz was responsible for four of the Royals' five made 3-pointers and led the way with 16 points.
In the second half, Minix was 7-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and finished the night with a game-high 20 points and 12 rebounds in a total of 22 minutes.
The lead got to 21 with 4:27 left after a 3-pointer by
Jordan Gorman and a layup by
Devon Ford, followed by a pair of successful free throws by Ford to make it 80-59.
Reggie Mesidor connected on a 3-pointer with 2:45 left to once again push the advantage to 21.
Gorman finished with 15 points, going 5-of-7 from long range, and added a team-high eight assists along with five rebounds. Ford added 11 points and a pair of steals. Mesidor also had 11, connecting on three 3-pointers and Diaz had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Sean Shore was key on defense with a game-best five steals and added five assists and four rebounds to the winning effort.
Next up for the Fire will be top-ranked Saint Francis (Ind.) on Saturday December 11
th at 2 p.m.
