PANAMA CITY, Fla. – The Fire stepped on the Monday afternoon court with one of the NAIA's best and held their own. Southeastern University hung tough but fell, 98-90, against seventh-ranked Freed-Hardeman University on the first day of the Battle at the Beach.
Trailing 8-5 early on, SEU received back-to-back treys from Derek Murphy and Joshua Blazquez and edged ahead, 11-8, only 4:54 into the game. After Ja'Quay Randolph downed a jumper and tied the score at 13-13, Freed-Hardeman answered with the next nine points and a 22-13 lead. The Fire cut the margin back to four, 22-18, but it would be the closest they would get the rest of the afternoon.
Nathan Mikkelson hit 5-of-8 attempts with one 3-pointer and made all six free throws to total 17 points. He also pulled down 13 rebounds for the double-double. Ahmad Johnson contributed 13 points, three rebounds, and a pair of assists while Diego Platas added 10 points on 4-of-5 from the floor. Murphy hit a pair of treys as part of his nine points, four boards, four steals, and two assists. Kyonte Thomas added eight points, four rebounds, and four assists.
It was the fourth time in eight games that the Fire have faced a ranked opponent.
"Proud of our fight today against one of the best teams in the country," said head coach, Hudson Welty. "We play these games to see where we stack up against national tournament-caliber programs. We face another tournament team from a year ago tomorrow, and we are excited to continue to improve."
Blazquez and Montez Leath both drained two triples off the bench for 13 and 10 points, respectively. Amir Brikat had five points and four rebounds. The Fire outrebounded the Lions, 36-28.
The Lions' Peyton Law led all scorers with 23 points and added nine rebounds.
Freed tried to run away with the game a number of times, building leads or 14, 15, 17 and 19 points, before taking a 20-point lead with 5:41 left in the game, but each time the Fire wouldn't go away, using good shooting and opportunistic pressure to cut into the advantage each time.
With the loss, SEU drops to 3-5 on the season while the Lions improve to 8-1.
The Fire return to action on Tuesday, when they face Loyola University New Orleans. Tip-off time is 3:30 p.m. EST.
