Red Hot Fire Takes Down Embry-Riddle, 89-82
January 11, 2012
SEU Stays Perfect in Conference Play
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.--The Southeastern men's basketball team remained perfect in conference play on the year, Wednesday night, when they defeated reigning Sun Conference champions, Embry-Riddle University, 89-82.
The victory adds to the already historic season for the Fire, as the men's basketball team becomes the first program in SEU history to defeat Embry-Riddle in a conference game. The Southeastern baseball team beat Embry-Riddle in a non-conference game back in 2008.
Southeastern received a huge game from senior Malcolm Pollock, as he scored 20 points and added eight rebounds. Pollock shot 6-of-9 from the field, and 7-of-9 from the free throw line. He also scored 12 first half points, helping Southeastern build a 51-36 halftime lead.
The Fire torched the nets in the first half, shooting 55% from the floor. The hot shooting display included going 4-of-9 from three-point land, and 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Eagles held Southeastern without a field goal over the first five minutes of the second half, cutting into the Fire's lead.
A layup by ERU's Daniel Mondragon made the score 56-52 in favor of the Fire with 13:50 remaining in regulation. On SEU's next possession, Dyami Thurman buried a three-point field goal to push the Fire's lead back up to seven points (59-52). And that sequence seemed to sum up the game on the night, as Southeastern had all the answers for the Eagles.
ERU's Blake Touchard scored on a layup at 8:05, cutting the Fire's lead to just three points (65-62). But, this time Chris Carlyle responded on the Fire's next possession with a three-pointer to extend SEU's lead to six points (68-62). The Eagles could not get the score any closer than three points down the stretch, and the Fire took advantage of their free throw opportunities in the second half. Southeastern went 20-of-27 from the charity stripe in the second half, and finished the game 29-of-38 for the night.
Touchard led all scorers with 26 points while the Eagles' Ray Graham had a big game inside with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Carlyle came off the Southeastern bench to score 14 points and pull down seven rebounds. He also went a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.
Jacob Hodges also added 14 points with five boards while Dwayne Johnson scored 10 points and dished out five assists.
Tim Jickell and Povilas Gaidys were a nice combination inside on the night for the Fire. Jickell scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds while Gaidys ripped down nine rebounds and scored six points off the bench.
Southeastern remained No. 15 in the nation in the latest NAIA polls that were released this past Monday. Wednesday night's victory improves their overall record to 11-5 on the season.
The Fire will travel to Temple Terrace, Saturday night, to rematch Florida College in a non-conference game. Southeastern defeated Florida College, 80-63, back on November 4th, in Lakeland.
