LAKELAND, Fla.—It was a tale of two halves as the No. 13 Southeastern men’s basketball team took on the Keiser University Seahawks Thursday night. SEU, who held an 18-point advantage following 20 minutes of play, fell to Keiser 69-66 after being outscored 45-24 in the second frame. With the defeat, the Fire moved to 17-5 overall and 10-2 in conference play.
Jeremy Oppenheimer and Michael Hill Jr. were both instrumental to Southeastern building a big lead. With the game tied at 15 mid-way through the first half, the duo scored seven consecutive points during an 11-0 stretch to put the Fire up 26-15.
Hill Jr. connected on another two buckets and Oppenheimer collected five fast points as the first half came to a close to give SEU a 42-24 lead at the intermission.
Oppenheimer (13 points on 5-5 shooting) and Hill Jr. (12 points on 6-6 shooting) each failed to miss a shot in the opening 20 minutes. The Fire made an outstanding 63.3% (19-30) of their attempts in the first half, compared to just 33.3% (11-33) shooting from Keiser.
Following another quick five points at the beginning of the second half, Southeastern held its largest lead of the night at 21 points with 18:01 to go.
The Seahawks took over the competition from that point on, holding the Fire scoreless for the next 6:07 as the team went on an 18-0 run and cut the deficit to just three with 11:54 left.
Over the ensuing three minutes, Keiser utilized a 6-2 stretch to recapture the lead (50-49) for the first time since the opening basket of the contest. Overall, the Seahawks used a 31-2 second-half run to seize control.
Andrija Matic scored all of his 18 points in the second half to seal the victory for KU. Keiser opened up an eight-point advantage with just 18 seconds remaining, and although the Fire scored the last four points of the competition, they still fell by three.
The Seahawks shot 50.0% (18-36) from the field in the last 20 minutes, while Southeastern managed only 32.1% (9-28).
Oppenheimer ended the night with a game-high 20 points and six rebounds. Hill Jr., who notched just two points in the second half, finished with a season-high 14 and five boards.
The Fire will take the court again on Saturday when they travel to Johnson & Wales. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. in North Miami.
