KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Southeastern University junior Riley Minix was selected as the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Player of the Week for his work in a win over No. 1 Saint Francis on Saturday.

The Vero Beach native had a game-high 29 points and hauled in eight rebounds in a 74-72 win over the Cougars Saturday afternoon. Minix connected on a pair of free throws with four seconds left to put the Fire on top and scored the final seven points of the game for the Fire in the win.

Minix is currently 15^th in the NAIA in scoring at 21.5 points per game and is averaging 33 points per 40 minutes which is third nationally. Additionally, he is averaging 9.9 rebounds per game and is 58% from the field.

The Fire take on 13^th-ranked Grace this afternoon at 4 p.m. at The Furnace.

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LAKELAND, Fla. – A much more complete effort helped the Southeastern men’s basketball team move to 7-1 on the season with a 108-70 win over Truett McConnell in the first game of the SEU Classic on Friday.

Just 48 hours earlier, the Fire saw a 34-point lead with just under seven minutes to play whittle down to a 15-point final margin. Friday, the Fire held a 45-point advantage with 5:17 left and didn’t see much of it go away as the team went deeper into the bench.

A 14-0 run during the middle of the first half helped the Fire build a 20-point lead with 8:44 left. Three free throws at the end of the half by Deshaun Osborne gave the Five a 59-32 lead at the break.

Osborne finished with 16 off the bench, going 8-of-8 at the free throw line.

Riley Minix only needed 20 minutes to score 19 points and record four rebounds, connecting on 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. Riley Matticks had his best game in red and black thus far, scoring 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and was 3-for-3 from 3-point land.

Sophomore Reggie Mesidor added 14 points, and Ralph Diaz added 10. Diaz and Isaiah Moody each had four assists.

The Fire finished 12-of-24 from 3-point range.

Saturday, Southeastern will face Freed-Hardeman which is coming off of its first loss of the season at 6 p.m.

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THOMASVILLE, Ga. – In their Sun Conference opener, the Southeastern University men’s basketball team defeated Thomas University 89-69 to move to 4-0 on the season.

Sophomore Riley Minix and senior Isaiah Moody paced the Fire as Minix finished with his second double-double of the season with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Moody poured in a season-high 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

Trailing 5-0 to start the game, the Fire outscored the Night Hawks 37-15 the rest of the half to take a 37-20 lead into halftime. Sophomore Reggie Mesidor sparked the Fire offense in the first half, leading the team in scoring with 11 points.

As a team, Southeastern shot 55.6% from the field and outrebounded Thomas 24-9 in the first half.

The Fire defense prevented Thomas from finding open looks in the first 20 minutes of action as they held the Night Hawks to just 24.2% shooting from the field. That continued in the second half with Southeastern holding Thomas to shoot only 33.8% for the game.

SEU found their rhythm on offense in the final 20 minutes of play as they scored 52 points, the most points they’ve scored in a half this season.

Minix and Moody did most of their damage in the second half with Minix scoring 17 points and Moody adding 14 while shooting 6-of-6 from the field.

Transfer Ralph Diaz scored all eight of his points in the second half and added six rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Graduate center Devon Ford controlled the paint in this one as he collected four offensive rebounds which helped him score his 11 points.

The Fire (4-0, 1-0 TSC) continue TSC action on Monday with a game at Coastal Georgia set for 7:30 pm.

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TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. – Southeastern overcame a slow start and some early mistakes to come away with a 71-59 win on the road in the 2020-21 season opener over Florida College.

In the second half, the Fire found another gear, shooting 42.9% from the field, connected on six 3-pointers, and committed just six turnovers.

“The consistency we played with on the defensive end of the floor is what we needed to win this game because the offense really wasn’t there today,” said coach Kevin Lubbers. “We got contributions from a lot of different guys, we rebounded well, but at the end of the day, we got enough stops especially in the last five minutes.”

Sophomore Riley Minix was the main catalyst in the second half. He scored 20 of the team’s 37 points in the second half and finished with a double-double of 26 points and 17 rebounds in 36 minutes of work.

“His work on the glass and his consistency, and he shows up when the moments get big,” Lubbers said. “He hit some big shots and his leadership was key down the stretch.”

With 14:59 to play, the Fire fell behind 42-40, but Minix ended the 7-0 run with a 3-pointer on the next possession to give his team the lead back. The Fire were also down a point at the 11:50 mark, and again on the ensuing possession, Minix connected on a triple to put his team back up.

Ralph Diaz was also a big contributor in the second half, scoring all 11 of his points in the second 20 minutes, and finished with five rebounds, two assists, and a steal off the bench.

“The thing I was most happy about with Ralph today was his defensive effort,” Lubbers said. “He was really focused, locked in, and had some good contests.”

Reggie Mesidor helped the Fire hold a 34-28 halftime lead, scoring 10 of his 12 points in the first half.

The Fire will host Brewton Parker on November 5 for their home opener.

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