Box Score MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Southeastern University built a first-half cushion and powered past St. Thomas University, 91-66, in Sun Conference men's basketball action today.
SEU built its lead in stages on Saturday afternoon from eight points in the first eight minutes, a 12-point margin two minutes later, and up to 18 points with the final six points of the first half for a 45-27 lead at the half. The Bobcats pulled back to within 15 points, 50-35, in the first five minutes of the second stanza. The Fire, though, pushed it to their largest lead of 24 points, 65-41, on a Josh Blazquez trey at 11:35 and shut the door on any thoughts of a home team comeback attempt.
"I'm proud of our guys response tonight on the defensive end'" said head coach Hudson Welty. "We have a lot of room to grow on both ends and tonight was a step in the right direction. We are excited for the upcoming challenges at the Battle at the Beach on Monday and Tuesday."
The key for the Fire tonight was their shooting, as they hit 61.5% (32-of-52) of their shots for the game and 9-of-16 from long range. On the other side of the ball, the SEU defense held St. Thomas to 36.9% from the field (24-of-65).
Ahmad Johnson hit 5-of-9 from the floor with a trio of 3-pointers and all nine free throws, scoring 20 points and adding three rebounds. Both
Kyonte Thomas and
Nathan Mikkelson added 15 points apiece. Thomas also pulled down six rebounds and handed out six assists, while Mikkelson had seven boards and three blocked shots.
Blazquez could not miss, as he made all five of his field goal attempts, four of them from beyond the arc, to add 14 points to go with two assists.
Nelson Reynolds made 5-of-6 tries with a pair of triples for 12 points of his own.
Diego Platas added six points, two rebounds and two blocks.
Derek Murphy contributed five points, three rebounds, two assists, and two steals, while
Ja'Quay Randolph had four points and four rebounds.
Both Colin Nutter and Esteban Lluberes scored 12 points apiece for the Bobcats.
With the win, the Fire improve to 3-4 (2-1 SUN) but also snapped a two-game losing streak against the Bobcats (2-4/1-2 SUN). They also posted the program's first win in Miami Gardens since a 77-59 win on February 16, 2019.
SEU returns to action on Monday afternoon against No. 7 Freed-Hardeman at the Battle at the Beach in Panama City, Florida. Tip-off is at noon EST.
