Fire basketball will be taking a road trip for the first round of the Sun Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. On Tuesday, Southeastern will be traveling to Ave Maria to face the Gyrenes for the third time this season, but this time, the season depends on the outcome.
In the first contest between the two schools the Southeastern trailed by as much as 17 in the second half, and despite a wild comeback late in the game the Gyrenes prevailed and claimed a home victory by a score of 101-93.
The second time around was a completely different story. The Furnace was alive, and so was the Fire defense. The game started just as the Gyrenes, who were ranked #24 at the time, hoped, as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game. The tides quickly turned as the Fire offense lit up and claimed the lead 11-10 in the two minutes following, the teams traded leads only once, on the next two possessions, and Southeastern went on a 19-2 run, going up 30-15 and up 50-32 into half. The second half would be more tightly contested in terms of scoring, even though the Fire got up by as much as 27, the Gyrenes would get as close as thirteen points, and behind five double digit scorers the Fire would upset Ave Maria at home 93-77.
Southeastern will look to their defense again as they travel, looking to pull off a road upset. To deny the three point shot will be a key to success for the Fire, as well as scoring early and quickly. Over the two games versus Ave Maria the Fire have allowed 25 three pointers, ten in the first contest and 15 in the second. For offensive production, the Fire will look to their guards to make outside shots, as well as working the ball down low to the bigs to dominate the post.
In the first game between the two teams the Fire had four scorers in double digits,
Makai Vassell led all scorers with 25, and
Derek Murphy followed in his footsteps for his season high of 18,
Anthony Duncan added 15 of his own on 7-7 shooting. The second time around in the home victory, the Fire shot 55 percent led by
Reggie Mesidor, doubling his point total from the first game and scoring 22, Vassell had 18 and
Sean Shore turned in his second highest point total of the season with 17 and Duncan again went perfect from the field with 6-6 shooting and 13 points.
Ave Maria will lean heavily on their offense, being the second highest ranked offense in the NAIA averaging 92.7 points per game behind 48.5 percent shooting from the field and 36.1 percent three point shooting. Individually, the Gyrenes have six scorers over ten points per game, Michael Klekas leads the way with 16 points per game, and Nick Filchner, Jack Watkins, and Jonathan Effertz with all right around thirteen points per game.
Defensively, the Fire allow 74 points per game, and the Gyrenes 85, Southeastern forces 11 turnovers per game, Ave Maria creates 12, and off of those turnovers the Fire add 11 points, whereas the Gyrenes add 15. On the boards, SEU is 67th in the NAIA with 36.5 rebounds per game and the Gyrenes are 49th overall with 38.6.
The game will begin at Ave Maria at 7 p.m. tomorrow night.
