Men's Basketball Competes in Two SUN Contests this Week

LAKELAND, Fla.- The 13-3 Southeastern University men's basketball team returns to action this week with two Sun Conference matchups after a two-week holiday hiatus. The week will start with a contest in Miami Gardens, Fla. against Florida Memorial on Thursday at 6 p.m. and will round out with a matchup against St. Thomas University at home in Lakeland on Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
The Lions of Florida Memorial come into the contest with an 8-4 overall record and a 4-1 SUN record with their last contest ending in a 75-70 victory over Mount Vernon Nazarene University on December 15^th. The Lions finished the 2021 calendar year averaging 72.3 points per contest behind a 40.2 field goal percentage and 67.8 free throw percentage while defensively averaging 41.6 rebounds per game.
 
Corey Benton is the team's leading scorer through 12 games played with 181 points and an average of 15.1 per game while also leading the team in assists with 46. Brent Holcombe leads the Lion's defense with 76 total rebounds.
 
The Bobcats currently hold a record of 5-5 (2-3 SUN) and are coming off of a 95-72 loss to Florida International University to open the 2022 calendar year on January 1^st. The unit from Miami Gardens currently averages 81 points per contest with a 43.9 field goal percentage and 70.3 free throw percentage. The Bobcats have been the superior rebounding team thus far with an average of 47.7 per game compared to their competitors 35.1 per game.
 
Jonas Parker has registered a team high 158 points through nine games played and also leads the Bobcats in assists with 18. Dwayne Russell hit triple digit rebounds last contest with 100 rebounds and an average of 10 a game.
 
The receiving votes Fire are coming off of a 78-57 victory over Spring Arbor on December 22^nd and will head into the 2022 calendar year averaging 84.9 points per game and a 47.1 percentage from the field. A majority of the Fire's success thus far this season has come from beyond the three point arc as they rank No. 3 nationally in three pointers made per game with 11.2 and No. 4 nationally in three point attempts per game at 31.3.
 
Four-time SUN Player of the Week, Riley Minix, leads the Fire squad in nearly every category including points (368), points per contest (23), rebounds (169), steals (21), and blocks (18) while also going 50-63 at the free throw line through while averaging 26.9 minutes per game. Reggie Messidor has been efficient off the bench as he comes in as the Fire's second leading scorer with 159 points in only 18.8 minutes per contest. Point guard, Jordan Gorman has been an effective playmaker with a team high 58 assists while also shooting an impressive 51% from beyond the arc in SUN conference contests.
 
To purchase tickets to Saturday's home contest, go to https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/?cid=172.