LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern came away with a four-point win in a classic battle against its rival Saturday night.
The Fire shot better than 60% from both the field and 3-point land in the second half to come away with a 74-70 win over Webber International at The Furnace.
Down three to start the second half, Makkai Vassell quickly made his presence felt scoring 10 points in the first 3:30 of the second as part of a 12-5 run to go up 38-34. A 9-2 run by the Warriors put the guests up 46-40 with 12:58 to go but the Fire were able to battle back and tie the game at 48 with a 3-pointer by
Reggie Mesidor at the 11:19 mark.
The Warriors (13-4, 1-2 SUN) then went on a 7-0 run, taking advantage of a pair of SEU turnovers to take its biggest lead of the game at the 10:14 mark.
Again, the hosts fought back, tying the game at 55 at the 8:18 mark with a jumper by Vassell only to fall behind by four less than a minute later. A 3-ball by Mesidor cut the deficit to a point with 7:00 left and kicked off an 15-4 run which saw the Fire take a 70-63 lead with 2:06 left on a dunk by Vassell.
The Warriors were able to whittle the lead all the way down to two with 22 seconds left and got the ball back, but a 3-point attempt came up short.
"I'm proud of the guys for their resilience and how they made it tough for two talented players and to finish it and come away with a win," said coach
Randy Lee.
Vassell led all scorers with 23, with 17 coming in the second half of his double-double effort adding 11 rebounds. Mesidor chipped in 17 points, seven rebounds, and a team-best five assists.
Joshua Blazquez finished with 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists.
Sean Shore was the catalyst in the first half, scoring the team's first five points, finishing with 13 points, seven rebounds, and three assists.
Webber International was held to 37% from the field and just 25% from 3-point range.
"We just tried to make them earn everything they got," said Lee of the defense. "We had a combination of people helping and did a great job trying to slow them down."
The Fire will travel to St. Thomas on Wednesday.
