LAKELAND, Fla.—Six different players had eight points or more in an 81-65 victory over St. Thomas to improve to 15-3 on the year.
The Fire also improved to 8-0 in Sun Conference play for the first time in program history.
A 12-2 run in the first half gave the Fire a 21-9 lead with 11:32 left in the first half, with Jeremy Oppenheimer hitting on one of his three 3-pointers to give SEU its first double-digit lead.
Oppenheimer finished with 14 points, and added four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Southeastern finished the first half 51.5% (17-33) from the field and held a 47-31 lead after 20 minutes of play.
“We hadn’t been getting off to good starts, so I told our team we needed to transition from being good to great at the beginning,” said coach R-Jay Barsh. “You always work on situations for the end of the game, but we decided to work on some for the beginning of the game.”
Josiah Barsh had 14 of his team-high 21 points in the second half, making four of his six 3-point attempts.
St. Thomas (6-10) got as close as 12 (72-60) with 4:50 to play, but Barsh connected on a 3-pointer on the next possession. Again, the Bobcats were within 12 with 3:07 left, and Barsh connected on a 3-pointer on the next two possessions to solidify the result.
Michael Hill Jr. came up a point and a rebound shy of a double-double, and dished out two assists. Taylor Breck added nine points off the bench, and Linwood Ross had eight off the bench. Isaiah Moody had eight points and five rebounds.
“I was really excited about what we got from Michael Hill,” said Barsh. “He was a monster for us early on the glass and did a good job not allowing second chance possessions.”
The Fire return to action on Saturday at Florida Memorial with a 4 p.m. start.