WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- Th Southeastern University Fire defeated Keiser University 93-88 to claim a share of The Sun Conference regular season championship for the second time in three years.
With a minute and a half into the start of regulation, the first points of the game came from Mykhalio Yagodin to what was going to be a dominate Southeastern first half. As Keiser struggled to get the ball into the basket, Southeastern capitalized on their opportunities both sides of the court.
With 11:25 left in the first half, Southeastern kept the Seahawks to just four points to take a 20-4 lead. SEU continued to be up by 16 or more points throughout the remainder of the half. Behind 10 first half 3-pointers, the Fire led 48-32.
Momentum was on the Fire's side as the second half began. The Fire continued to keep Keiser at a major deficit, being up 70-50 with 11:44 left to play, Yagodin sunk yet another 3-pointer that was assisted by
Joshua Blazquez.
In the middle of the second half, SEU began to struggle to make baskets in and keep their personal fouls at a minimum. Keiser was able to start to come back from their deficit bringing the score to 89-81 with 2:14 left in the game.
Southeastern was able to maintain their lead the remainder of the game by
Riley Minix dunking the ball who was assisted by
Jordan Gorman keeping the Fire in a position to win. Guard
Riley Matticks was able send this one away for Keiser by shooting a free throw ending the game 93-88.
Minix had a game-high 30 points, going 7-of-9 on his 3-pointers, and had 15 rebounds. Yagodin finished with 27 points, also shooting 7-of-9 from the 3-point line and had five rebounds.
Gorman added 10 points, five assists and five rebounds.
The team was 19-for-33 at the 3-point line and had 37 rebounds.
Southeastern will return to action in The Sun Conference Tournament semifinals next Friday.
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