LAKELAND, Fla. – After Montez Leath's 3-pointer in the final seconds of regulation sent the contest to overtime, Southeastern University couldn't keep the momentum, as Our Lady of the Lake University scored the opening 10 points of the extra period on the way for a 111-103 men's basketball win.
Following both teams holding double-digit leads in the first half and the Fire in the second half, the Saints tied the game with 4:31 to play and made two free throws with 25 seconds to play in the second half for a 94-91 edge. Leath, though, downed his fourth triple with nine seconds left and sent the game into overtime at 94-94.
The Saints took the lead on its third shot of the extra 5-minute period, added a second along with three sets of free throws for a 104-94 score at 1:22. SEU missed its first three shot attempts and committed four costly turnovers in that same 3:38 overtime time span.
The Fire (1-3) output was its second time to eclipse 100 points in four games. Both OLL (4-0) and SEU both shot over 50% for the night – OLLU made 42-of-76 tries (55.3%) and SEU finished 40-of-77 (51.9%).
Five SEU players reached double figures, with Ahmad Johnson leading the way with 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, including four treys, six rebounds and two assists. Leath came off the bench for 18 points on 7-of-12 from the floor with four 3-pointers of his own, adding two steals.
Nathan Mikkelson recorded the lone double-double with 16 points (8-of-10 field goals) and 10 boards with three blocks. Derek Murphy added 14 points, five rebounds, three assists, and two blocks, while Kyonte Thomas chipped in 12 points and three rebounds.
Joshua Blazquez dropped nine points and three assists and Ja'Quay Randolph had six points, five rebounds and three steals.
Lonzo Rand led all scorers with 26 points for the Saints.
OLLU ran out to an early 16-5 lead in the opening four minutes only to see the Fire gain their footing with their own 12-0 run for a 17-16 edge. SEU slowly built up its advantage to 10 points, 46-36, on a Johnson layup at 5:14. The Fire eventually took a 15-point lead with 32 seconds remaining and held a 60-46 score at intermission.
In the second half, Johnson threw down a dunk with 7:56 left in the game for an 84-70 lead. The Saints answered with a 12-0 run to pull within two, 84-82, setting up the wild finish.
The Fire return to action on Tuesday, when they make the short trip to St. Leo for an exhibition contest. Tip off is at 7 p.m..
