BABSON PARK, Fla.—Big nights from Josiah Barsh and Dylan Causwell lifted Southeastern past Webber International in its season and Sun Conference opener Thursday night.
Barsh scored a career-high 33 points, and snagged six rebounds in a 100-93 win over the Warriors. This included a 10-for-10 effort from the free throw line, and a 10-for-21 shooting night from the field.
Causwell in his regular season debut registered a double-double effort with 27 points and 14 rebounds.
“Josiah has played well the last couple times in this gym and shoots the ball well and plays with a lot of confidence,” said coach R-Jay Barsh. “Dylan just played his game, and that’s what we expect out of him.”
A little bit of a sluggish start saw the Warriors hold a seven-point lead with 10:21 left in the first, but the Fire turned it around over the next three minutes, getting a breakaway dunk off of an Isaiah Moody steal and a layup by Moody off of steal on the next possession to go up 25-24 with 7:06 left.
Moody finished with eight points, five rebounds, five assists, three steals, and a block.
Southeastern closed the half on a 15-9 run to take a 50-42 lead at the halftime break.
A 3-pointer by Ismael Celestin with 9:57 remaining gave Southeastern its largest lead of the night at 75-64. The Warriors refused to go quietly, whittling the deficit down to three with 5:53 left, then tied the game with 5:14 left.
Celestin finished with 15 points, two rebounds, one assist, and was a perfect 8-of-8 at the free throw line.
Linwood Ross answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner to put the Fire back on top for good on the next possession.
“I like that our guys kept playing,” said Barsh. “We knew pace and tempo would be in our favor and we wanted to get to the free throw line and we made all the ones that mattered.”
As a team, the Fire finished 25-of-28 at the free throw line.
The Fire will host Warner Saturday night for their home opener.
