Men's Basketball Drops Hard-Fought Battle to No. 21 Falcons

LAKELAND, Fla.- In the most electrifying game of the season, Southeastern men's basketball team fell to No. 21 ranked Florida College by a narrow 85-80 score. The Fire were just two shots away from handing the Falcons their fourth loss of the season but instead fell to 8-11 on the season.
 
The first 20 minutes seemed to be all Falcons after they shot a commanding 51% from the field and 39% from distance in the first half, tallying 42 points to the home team's 36. The Falcons got on the board first with a made three-pointer and held the lead for nearly the entirety of the half, surrendering the lead for less than 30 seconds after a three-pointer from Riley Minix put the Fire up two with 13:28 on the clock. The Fire managed to tie the contest three different times in the first half but would be met with a Falcon response twice.
 
The battle began in the final period after the Fire erased a 42-36 deficit out of the locker room thanks to back-to-back layups by Sean Shore and two consecutive statement throw-downs from Minix. With 13:26 on the clock, Shore was sent to the line, going 2-2 to give the Fire the first lead of the half. The teams then exchanged three-point shots with Joshua Blazquez responding to the Falcons' extra-point shot with his own, making the score 54-53 Fire. Both teams went on to trade points for the next eight consecutive buckets. After four minutes without back-to-back buckets from a team, Southeastern managed to take the 64-61 edge with an and-one effort from Minix. Reggie Mesidor handed his team a slight cushion with 7:22 on the clock after draining a shot from distance, putting the Fire ahead 67-61. The Falcons responded with consecutive three-point shots, bringing the score within two with 6:25 remaining while another visiting shot from distance tilted the scales back towards the Falcons, 73-71, with 4:29 on the clock. Anthony Bittar would then go on to tally seven points in the final three and a half minutes, aiding his team to the 85-80 victory over the Fire.
 
Minix concluded the contest as the game's leading scorer and rebounder, tallying 31 points and 12 rebounds while Joshua Blazquez concluded the contest with 15 points. Collectively, the Fire shot 46.6% from the field and 37.5% from distance against the Falcons.
 
The Fire will next face a Sun Conference contest on Saturday as they head to West Palm Beach to face Keiser University at 4 p.m.