LAKELAND, Fla.—An 11-point advantage at the free throw line and a 14% advantage in field goal shooting helped Southeastern defeat Coastal Georgia 94-92 in double overtime at The Furnace Saturday afternoon.
A pair of
Derek Murphy free throws at the end of the first half helped the Fire (10-8, 2-3 SUN) lead 38-35 at the break.
The Mariners (9-6, 2-3 SUN) drew even at 44-44 with 14:46 left in regulation on a three-point play, and at the 13:20 mark at 46-46. The Mariners took the lead off of an SEU turnover on a 3-pointer at the 12:35 mark. Back-to-back 3-pointers by
Reggie Mesidor and
Makai Vassell gave the Fire the lead back at the 8:02 mark with a 56-55 advantage.
The Fire led until the 4:46 mark when Nick Jiles converted a layup to give the guests a 59-58 lead but a layup by Vassell at the 3:38 mark gave the Fire the lead right back. The game was tied at 62 with 2:40 left on a 3-pointer by CCGA's Kaden McArthur. McArthur then scored off of an SEU turnover to put his team up two with 96 seconds to play.
Salle Wilson's 3-pointer with just over a minute left gave the Mariners a 67-64 lead but the Fire were able to tie it on Vassell's 3-pointer at the top of the key with 11 seconds left, then blocked a potential game-winning shot at the other end to force overtime.
McArthur tied the overtime session at 75 with a layup with 38 seconds left. The Fire missed a free throw in the bonus and the Mariners missed a go-ahead 3-pointer giving the last possession of overtime to SEU but the game winning jumper failed to go forcing a second OT.
Southeastern led the entire second overtime, scoring the first five points of the period. Outside shooting kept the Mariners within reach, getting a 3-pointer from Jiles at the 2:13 mark to get within a point but was answered by
Montez Leath to give the Fire a two-possession lead with 1:52 left. McArthur hit another 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to cut the deficit in half but
Joshua Blazquez converted a pair of free throws to help preserve the win.
"I think the guys were resilient and finished plays defensively," said coach
Randy Lee. "We have some things to work on offensively; we shot the ball well but had too many turnovers."
The Fire were led by Vassell's 19 points, six rebounds, and three blocks. Mesidor added 18 points, a team-high seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Anthony Duncan also had seven rebounds to go along with his 13 points against his former team.
"We've been in some close games this season so have some experience with that and were able to come out with the win," said Lee. "When they hit the big shots we continued to stay mentally strong."
Murphy also finished in double figures with 12 points, going 7-of-8 at the free throw line.
McArthur led all scorers with 31 and Jiles finished with 30.
The Fire will be back on the road Wednesday to take on Florida Memorial.
