Men's Basketball | 2/16/2021 8:00:00 AM
LAKELAND, Fla.— The Southeastern University men's basketball team will look to build their momentum as their regular season schedule winds down. After defeating Webber International last week, the Fire will host Ave Maria for Senior Night on Thursday, February 18
th at 7:00 pm before the regular season finale at Thomas on Saturday at 4:00 pm.
Riley Matticks and
Devon Ford led the charge in second-half comeback win at Webber International last Thursday, each scoring 18 points. The Fire rallied after trailing by 11 entering halftime to win 64-63.
Karl Jeanty had a big night on the glass with a season-high 14 rebounds and contributed his season-high of three assists. The win gave the Fire a half game lead over Webber for the final spot in the conference tournament, with SEU holding the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Warriors.
Entering the final week of the season sophomore guard
Reggie Mesidor is the team leader in scoring with 15.2 points per game, he is also averaging a team high 1.46 steals per game. Jeanty's 14-rebound performance pushed his season average up to 6.83 per game, good for fourth in the Sun Conference.
As a team the Fire are ranked in the top 25 in the NAIA in both 3-PT field goals made (220) and blocks (75).
Ave Maria (19-8, 13-5 TSC) travel to Lakeland as winners of five straight games and are tied for first in the conference with Warner. They are among the nation leaders in steals with 202 and assists with 390. Senior guard Eric Klekas is the scoring leader for the Gyrenes with 17.7 points per game, he also has made the second most three's in the NAIA with 78.
The Fire hold the edge all-time against Ave Maria with a 17-7 record but lost their last meeting 73-72. Mesidor recorded one of his highest scoring totals of the season in that matchup with 23 points on five-of-nine shooting from 3-PT range.
Thomas (9-14, 9-8 TSC) has lost two of their last five games and faces Warner in Lake Wales before hosting the Fire. Junior guard Joran Booker is the player to watch for the Night Hawks as he leads the team in PPG (14.6), APG (4.96), and SPG (4.1). Booker's 95 steals on the season leads the NAIA.
SEU and TU each have 14-wins when facing each other. The Fire took the first matchup of the season but dropped the previous on 72-63. Jeanty had a double-double in that outing with 11 points and ten rebounds.
To keep up with all the latest in Fire men's basketball be sure to follow @SEUFireMBB on Twitter.
