TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – Southeastern University saw its four-point lead with under three minutes evaporate as host Florida College edged out an 88-84 win in men's basketball action today.
The Fire surged midway through the second half and led by as many as 11 with nine minutes remaining, but the Falcons weren't done. SEU's Derek Murphy drained his third trey of the day for an 84-80 lead with 2:47 left, but that was the Fire's final field goal of the game, as Florida College would put the final eight points on the scoreboard.
SEU committed only eight turnovers and shot 14-for-30 from long range.
Murphy paced the SEU offense with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-6 from down town, to go with five rebounds and two assists. Both Joshua Blazquez and Ahmad Johnson scored 14 points and had two rebounds. Blazquez added three assists, and Johnson two.
Nelson Reynolds contributed 10 points with a pair of triples off the bench as the other double-digit scorer. Amir Brikat grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds to go with six points and four assists.
Matthew Lentz netted eight points with two 3-pointers, four rebounds, and a pair of steals. Nathan Mikkelson chipped in seven points and four boards, while Kyonte Thomas added five points and two assists. Diego Platas rounded out the effort with three points, three assists and two rebounds.
Nade Dude guided the Falcons with 24 points.
After a pair of Florida College treys started the game, SEU answered with the ensuing 11 points with Johnson having two treys of his own in the run. The two opponents deadlocked five times from there with the last coming at 33-33 after a Lentz jumper at 6:18. The Falcons enjoyed a nine-point advantage, 49-40, late before the Fire put up the final six tallies and 49-46 intermission total.
Down 59-54 in the first five minutes of the latter stanza, SEU powered up the next 13 points and turned its fortunes for a 67-59 advantage. Trailing 77-66 at 9:18 to go, Florida College scored eight unanswered and pulled with three to pull within striking range in the final minutes.
The Fire return to Sun Conference action when they host Ave Maria University on Wednesday night. Tip off is at 7:30 p.m..
