Men's Basketball Claims SUN Regular Season Title

LAKELAND, Fla.- After winning seven of their last eight contests, Southeastern men's basketball put themselves one game away from a Regular Season Conference Championship. Tonight, the Fire claimed the title after a thrilling 68-66 victory over Keiser University after trailing by as much as 14.
 
The Fire (16-12, 12-4 SUN) offense could smell the taste of a championship coming out of the locker room as they would conclude the night shooting 51% from the field.
 
In a contest that saw five lead changes, the Seahawks seemed to carry all the momentum through the first 10 minutes as they would lead the home team 26-15 to open the contest. With 8:50 remaining before halftime, the Fire began to chip away at the deficit, stringing together a 10-0 run backed by four points from Sean Shore to bring the score to 29-27. With the clock winding down, the Seahawks brought their cushion to five but four points by Riley Minix within two minutes brought the Fire within one. After a made layup by the Seahawks, Jalan Mull responded with a layup of his own to tie the contest at 35. One made free throw by the visiting team would give them the one-point lead heading into the locker room.
 
Southeastern shot a collective 56.5% from the field in the first half with Minix leading the way tallying 13 points and six rebounds.
 
In the final period, the Seahawks tallied the first two points but Riley Matticks would again tie the contest with the first of his extra-point shots of the half. The deficit began to increase as the Seahawks would put up a 9-2 run behind two three-point shots by Core'von Lott to take a 52-43 edge with 13:03 left in regulation. The Fire remained poised as they would go on to trail by 10, a deficit that would be quickly cut in half thanks to five points within forty seconds by Minix. Matticks' second extra-point shot of the period would bring the score to 56-54 with 8:58 on the clock while two made shots at the free throw line by Reggie Mesidor would again tie the contest. The first Fire lead of the contest would come from the hands of Mull as a good layup with 7:15 on the clock gave his team a 58-56 lead.
 
A three-point shot gave the Seahawks back their lead but an immediate response by Minix in the form of an and-one effort tipped the scales back in the Fire's direction. A jumper and made field goal by the visiting team with 4:13 remaining put the Fire down 62-61 but four more points from Minix and shot from distance by Mull had the Fire leading by four with 2:04 left in regulation. After trading timeouts through the next two minutes, the Seahawks applied the pressure with a made layup with just 24 seconds remaining but two missed free throws and a turnover in the final eight seconds secured the Fire's championship title.
 
Minix would end the contest as the game's leading scorer and rebounder with 28 points and 16 rebounds. Mull tallied eight of his 14 total points in the final period while also recording three assists on the night.
 
Southeastern will receive a bye to the Sun Conference Tournament Semifinals on Friday.