Shooting Struggles Lend the Fire a Loss to the Royals

LAKE WALES, Fla.- After traveling to cross-county rival Warner University tonight, the Southeastern University men's basketball team fell to 9-3 in Sun Conference play with their 79-56 loss after dropping two of their three SUN contests this week.
 
In the first half, the Royals jumped out to an early lead after going on a 7-0 run but a three-pointer by Reggie Mesidor and two made free throws by Riley Minix gave the Fire an 11-9 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half. Two made baskets made from beyond the arc by the Royals gave them back their lead until Riley Matticks knocked down two consecutive three-pointers of his own to tie the contest at 19. The remaining four minutes of the half saw the Royals outscore the Fire 11-3 as the Royals would go into the locker room with a 30-22 lead.
 
The Royals would continue to grow their lead as they opened up the half with six unanswered points but a shot from distance from Nathan Mikkelson would bring the Fire within eight as they chased a 42-34 deficit. The Fire would trail by no less than eight for the remainder of the contest as the Royals would go on to claim the 79-56 victory over the top seeded Fire as they spent over 30 minutes of the contest holding the lead.
 
The nationally ranked Fire would end the contest shooting just 37.5% from the field and 26% from three-point range.
 
Mesidor ended the night as the Fire's leading scorer with 12 points while Minix recorded a team high 10 rebounds.
 
The Fire will return to action on Saturday at 7 p.m. as they take on Webber International at home in The Furnace.