Complete Effort Guides Fire Past Wildcats

NORTH MIAMI, Fla.— After a heartbreaking home loss on Thursday, the No. 13 Fire men’s basketball team bounced back in a major way on the road at Johnson & Wales. Southeastern responded with an extremely balanced effort to defeat the Wildcats 97-61 and improve to 18-5 (11-2 TSC) on the year.
The Fire shared the ball to near perfection throughout the course of the competition Saturday afternoon. This type of efficiency and ball movement on offense contributed to a 14-2 run to start the contest with six quick points from Isaiah Moody.
Within the opening ten minutes of the first half, eight different SEU players had made a field goal as the team led 26-11 thanks to four points each by Jeremy Oppenheimer and Linwood Ross.
Leading by 15 points mid-way through the initial frame, Dylan Causwell scored eight of his game-high 11 first-half points to put SEU up 41-23 at the break.
The Fire dominated the first half on the boards, doubling the Wildcats’ rebound total by securing 22 boards (seven by the six-foot tall Ishmael Celestin) compared to a mere 11 by Johnson & Wales’ entire squad.
JWU tried to slim the deficit in the second twenty minutes with shooting from behind the arc. The Wildcats hit eight of their nine threes in the second half, but the Fire reacted with their biggest run of the afternoon.
After the Wildcats cut the lead (which had been as many as 20) down to 16 with 17:05 remaining in the game, Southeastern responded with an immediate 21-8 scoring stretch over the next seven minutes.
Old-fashioned three-point plays by Oppenheimer and Ross increased the advantage to 28 with 7:01 to go. Both players ended the contest with 15 points.
Overall, ten separate SEU players collected points on the evening stretching the lead to as many as 37. Southeastern’s bench outscored JWU’s reserves 49-23 throughout the competition.
“We had a different lineup to start the game and our second unit did a great job coming to play tonight. I’m really proud of how they played and how dialed-in they were,” Head Coach R-Jay Barsh stated.
Causwell finished with a game-high 18 points, while Moody rounded out the double-digit scoring efforts with ten in the 36-point thrashing. Celestin grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and scored eight.
“Our guys were really focused on execution, moving the ball and making sure we played together tonight. I’m proud of how this team bounced back from the loss Thursday night and I’m looking forward to us getting back in the gym and getting better for our game this Thursday against Ave,” Barsh concluded.
The Fire will take the court again on February 2 when they travel to Ave Maria. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.