Ft. Myers, Fla. – The Southeastern University men’s basketball team competed fiercely against NCAA Division I Florida Gulf Coast University last night, fiercely enough to garner attention on national television. However, turnovers cost the Fire on the road as they fell to the Eagles 84-51 in an exhibition contest.
FGCU got off to a hot start in the early goings of the contest, opening up the game on an 11-0 run.
However, the Fire showed resilience of their own, responding with an 18-7 run to tie things up 18-18 with 6:50 to go in the first half, thanks to a three-point play by junior forward Dylan Causwell. The Loyola Marymount transfer scored eight of the SEU 18 points during that run.
Causwell finished the night with a team-leading 16 points and was a perfect 6-6 from the field with six rebounds.
A layup by sophomore guard Isaiah Moody with 6:17 to go in the first half gave the Fire their first and only lead of the game over the Eagles at 20-18.
FGCU ended the first half on a 17-4 run to take a 35-24 advantage into the half.
The Fire were unable to cut the deficit to any less than 11 in the second half.
The difference maker in the contest was Florida Gulf Coast’s ability to capitalize off of Southeastern mistakes. The Eagles were able to score 29 points off of 27 Fire turnovers, while the Fire scored seven points off 16 FGCU turnovers.
However, SEU garnered national media attention with 11:39 to go in the game when Isaiah Moody made a spectacular breakaway dunk over an FGCU defender. The dunk was listed as the number five Top Play on ESPN’s Sportscenter that night. The dunk can be viewed here.
The Fire officially open up the 2018-19 regular season at home in The Furnace tomorrow evening versus Regent University at 7 p.m.