MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Southeastern University tied the contest midway through the second half, but No. 22 Florida Memorial gained the advantage and held on for a 82-71 Sun Conference men's basketball final today.
The Lions registered the opening eight points of the game and never gave up the lead. Four minutes into the second stanza, the Fire went on a 12-2 surge and tied the contest, 53-53. Florida Memorial answered with the next six points and never let SEU closer than four points over the last 9:51.
SEU (9-12/5-4 Sun Conference) and Florida Memorial (15-4/7-2 Sun Conference) split the season series. The Fire won on their home court back early in the season on November 16, 88-80.
Coming off the bench, Nathan Mikkelson guided the SEU attack with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including a pair of treys, to go with 10 rebounds. Derek Murphy led the starters with 16 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Diego Platas added 11 points, five boards, and two assists, while Ahmad Johnson chipped in 10 points, three assists and two rebounds.
Nelson Reynolds pumped in a pair of 3-pointers as part of his eight points and two helpers off the bench. Amir Brikat added six points, three rebounds and two assists. Joshua Blazquez and Kyonte Thomas rounded out the production with each having two points and a combined six assists.
Latavious Mitchell led the Lions with 20 points and 15 rebounds.
SEU returns to The Furnace on Wednesday night against the College of Coastal Georgia in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
