LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern ended a two-game slide with an 80-78 victory over No. 13 Indiana Tech.
The Fire had all five starters in double-figures, and also got key contributions off the bench from Isaiah Moody, who had a game-high 15 points, and Linwood Ross added eight.
“I’m proud of the depth we showed tonight,” said coach R-Jay Barsh. “Linwood got some big stops and Moody came in and changed the game and gave us assertive efforts off the bench.”
Ross gave the Fire the lead back with 13:16 left in the second half, making a layup off of a Warrior turnover, then scored on a dunk following a blocked shot by Josiah Barsh. Barsh then connected on a 3-pointer to put the Fire up 55-51 with 12:14 remaining.
Barsh finished with 13 points, making all four of his free throws.
Southeastern held an eight-point lead with 24 seconds left, but Indiana Tech’s Dylan Phair connected on three 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, trading free throws for Phair 3-pointers.
The Fire led by as many as 11 with 3:43 to play in the first half on a 3-pointer by Jeremy Oppenheimer, who finished with 11 points and had seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Dylan Causwell was a rebound away from a double-double, scoring 12 points with an assist and two steals. Ismael Celestin added 11 points, and four steals to the winning effort. Michael Hill Jr. scored 10 points and had three rebounds.
“Dylan has been really consistent lately,” said Barsh. “He’s a matchup nightmare and is shooting the ball a lot better, and is rebounding the ball.”
Next up for the Fire is an exhibition game at Kennesaw State on Thursday at 4 p.m.
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