MONTGOMERY, Ala.- A dominating second half by Southeastern men's basketball resulted in an 82-76 victory over the 6
th seeded Union College Bulldogs in the NAIA National Tournament First Round.
The Fire victory was just the third contest dropped by the Bulldogs all season.
In the first half, the Bulldogs outscored the Fire 42-35 behind a 47% (17-36) effort from midrange while the Fire went 42% (13-31) from the field. Both teams converted their opening baskets with
Joshua Blazquez tallying five quick points to give the Fire a 10-4 edge four minutes into the contest. Back-to-back three-point shots by the Bulldogs tied the contest but another three-point bucket by Blazquez gave the Fire a 13-10 lead.
After the first media timeout and the contest tied at 19, the Bulldogs strung together an 11-0 run to take a 30-19 lead.
Riley Minix then went on a seven-point run highlighted by a three-point shot and was followed with Blazquez' third bucket from distance to cut the Fire deficit to five with six minutes remaining in the half.
Markelle Turner managed three consecutive baskets in less than three minutes to give the Bulldogs a 40-31 lead with less than three minutes remaining as the Bulldogs would conclude the half with a 42-35 lead over the Fire.
Sean Shore came out of the locker room with a vengeance as he would tally 15 of his 21 points in the second half as the Fire would outscore the Bulldogs 47-34 after going 56% from the field (18-32) and 6-10 from distance. The Fire defense held the Bulldog offense to just 30% from the field and 16% from distance in the second half to secure a spot in tomorrow's final.
The Fire came out with a 6-0 run to open the half with a good layup by
Jalan Mull bringing the Fire within one. A layup and made free throw by Shore tied the contest at 44 at the 17:42 mark with Blazquez giving the Fire the lead with a good layup immediately following. The Fire lead would gradually increase for the next 10 minutes of play, backed by a 5-6 stretch by
Sean Shore from the field. A made three-point shot by
Riley Matticks would cap off the Fire's largest lead of the contest (70-56) with 7:17 on the clock after stringing together a 35-14 run since the start of the half.
With 3:31 left to play, a bucket from distance by the Bulldogs cut the lead to single digits as they would eventually get the Fire lead down to 78-72 with just 1:21 left to play. Mull then went 2-2 at the line to give the Fire the 80-72 lead with under a minute to play but back-to-back jumpers cut the lead to just four with 36 seconds on the clock. Minix secured the Fire victory after going 2-2 at the line as the Fire moved to 19-12 on the season with the win.
Minix concluded the contest with 30 points and 11 rebounds while Shore tallied 21 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Blazquez ended the contest with 19, seven rebounds, and five assists.
No. 11 ranked Southeastern will next take on the winner of No. 3 Faulkner tomorrow at 5 p.m. eastern.
