Men's Basketball Opens Week with NAIA Ranked Opponent

LAKELAND, Fla.- After a 2-0 week last week with wins over Sun Conference opponents Webber International and Warner University, Southeastern men's basketball (5-5, 3-2 SUN) will face off against the No. 11 ranked Falcons of Florida College in Temple Terrace on Friday at 7 p.m. and will face Johnson University-Florida in The Furnace on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest.
 
Collectively, the Fire average 77.1 points per contest with five different individuals averaging double digits. Most of the offensive success has come from midrange for the Fire as they have posted a .464 field goal percentage while also averaging 8.5 three-point shots per game. Riley Minix has captained the offense, averaging 25.4 points per game with 127 points in just five contests behind a .566 field goal percentage. Reggie Mesidor has tallied a team-best 145 points while Riley Matticks leads the distance-scoring after converting 13 of his 31 (41.9%) shots from beyond the arc. Defensively, Sean Shore has grabbed a team-high 99 rebounds for an average of 9.9 per contest. Jalan Mull has been the Fire's play maker as he has recorded 44 assists in 10 contests.
 
The No. 11 ranked Falcons currently sit at third nationally in games (12) and points (1,058) as they hold an 11-1 overall record, dropping their lone contest to No. 10 Southwestern by a score of 90-78. The nationally ranked offense is averaging 88.2 points per game while shooting 51% from the field and 39.2% from distance. Matt Simpson leads the scoring with 210 points which ranks 16^th nationally and averages 17.5 points per game. Simpson also leads the defense with 69 total rebounds. Off the bench, Drew Kramer has tallied 126 points behind a team-best three-point percentage of 50.9% (29-57). The Falcon defense has held their opponents to an NAIA sixth-best opponents' field goal percentage of 37.6% and an NAIA eighth-best opponents' three-point percentage of 25.6%.
 
Through seven games, the Suns have posted a 1-6 record behind 83.8 points per contest and a field goal average of 42.4%. Struggles at the free-throw line have heavily contributed to the Suns' offensive struggles as they are shooting just 63% at the line. Ak'mee Burton has registered a team-leading 83 points (20.8/game) while also recording 10 rebounds per contest for a double-double average. Daquion Vickers also holds a double-double average of 17.8 points and 12 rebounds per game.
 
To purchase tickets to Saturday's home contest go to https://southeastern.universitytickets.com/w/default.aspx.