LAKELAND, Fla.- The No. 19 Southeastern University Fire men's basketball team held on down the stretch to edge out the Florida Memorial University Lions 74-71 on Senior Night inside The Furnace. Southeastern dominated the interior against the Lions, outscoring FMU 30-12 in the paint.
Sam Brown,
Devon Ford, and
Jordan Gorman were all honored prior to tip-off as a part of the Senior Night festivities.
Both teams came out dialed in to start the first half, with a total of four lead changes within the first four minutes of play.
SEU went on a 9-0 run to take a 15-8 lead over FMU with 14:13 to go in the first half. The Fire would not trail for the remainder of the first half.
Senior Fire guard made three of his four three-pointers in the first half to total nine of his 16 points throughout the first 20 minutes of play.
Southeastern took a 35-30 advantage over Florida Memorial into the locker room at halftime.
Reggie Mesidor provided a major spark off the bench for SEU in the second half, scoring 12 of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes of action.
After trailing by as many as 10 in the second half, Florida Memorial manufactured a 12-4 run to cut the Fire lead down to 52-54 with 9:05 remaining in the contest.
The Lions took their first lead of the game since the 16:47 mark in the first half with 5:16 to go in regulation at 61-59. However, the combination of Mesidor, Gorman, and
Riley Matticks compiled an 8-0 run to pull the Fire back ahead 67-61 with 2:56 to go. Mesidor would go 4-4 at the charity stripe within the final two minutes of play to help earn SEU the win.
Riley Minix led the way once again for the Fire, scoring a game-high 23 points and hauling in a game-high 14 rebounds. The double-double was Minix' eighth-straight and 20th overall on the season.
Gorman finished with 16 points. Mesidor dished out three assists to accompany his 14 points.Â
The Fire close out the regular season on the road versus the Keiser University Seahawks next Thursday. Tip-off in West Palm Beach is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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