BABSON PARK, Fla. (November 15, 2019) – Sophomore Tommie Luke led the Webber International University men's basketball team with a very impressive 34-point, eight-rebound performance against No. 11 Southeastern University on Thursday night in Webber's 2018-19 home opener and Sun Conference opener, but in the end the Warriors came up short against the Fire by a final score of 100-93.

It was yet another high-flying and high-scoring affair for the Warriors, who have made that their theme so far on the early season.

Webber shot 53 percent from the field and finished with eight 3-pointers, but the 50 points allowed in each half were enough to seal the Warriors' fate.

After the Warriors led by as many as seven in the first half at 19-12 after a layup by Luke at the 11:51 mark and at 21-14 again on a layup by Luke at the 10:21 mark, Southeastern took the lead with seven minutes left before halftime thanks to an 11-3 run.

Then, after a dunk by Simon Fransis tied it at 35-35 with four minutes left in the first half, the Fire scored seven straight points over the next minute and a half to lead 42-35 before back-to-back layups by Rasheem Etienne and Austin Evans got the margin down to three at 42-39.

Facing a deficit of six at halftime, Webber got back to within one at 52-51 after a three by Luke three minutes into the second half. That was Luke's ninth point in a row to start the second half. Luke then added two more points via free throws to give him 11 consecutive points and make the score 56-53 in favor of the Fire with 15:27 remaining.

From there, the Warriors stayed within striking distance as the Fire grew their lead to margins of seven points with 13 minutes left, nine with 11:43 left and 11 with 10 minutes left.

Webber got back to within four at 77-73 with eight minutes left to play on a 3-pointer by Fransis and a highlight reel tip dunk by Luke after a missed three by Fransis.

The Warriors continued the comeback effort and came all the way back to tie the game again at 81-81 after a jumper by Malik Morrow and a nice transition 3-pointer by Garrett Woodmansee with 5:14 on the clock.

That would, unfortunately, be the last time the Warriors tied it as Southeastern connected on a three of its own on its next possession, and then Webber battled back from another seven-point deficit to get within two at 90-88 with under two minutes left after five straight points by Luke. Then, the free throw game started as the Fire went 8-for-8 from the line during the final two minutes to seal the victory.

In all, Webber was out-rebounded 46-31 and 17-7 on the offensive glass, leading to a 20-4 advantage in second chance points for the Fire.

In addition to Luke's career-high in points, Etienne scored a career-high of his own with 19 points and Evans also reached double-digits with 10, tying his career-best. Morrow matched Luke with eight rebounds and also added nine points. Kevin Grace finished with seven points and seven boards, and Fransis finished with seven points as well.

Luke was great all night long, finishing 13-of-18 from the field while adding two 3-pointers on three attempts. Etienne was 5-of-8 overall and 3-of-5 from three, and Evans was 4-of-8 overall.

The 34 points by Luke represented the most points scored by any Warrior during the tenure of Head Coach Allen Corbin, who is in his second season guiding the team.

"I am very proud of our effort and execution," said Corbin. "It's never good to lose and we are very upset about that; however, we had a lot of positives tonight that we can build upon. We will watch film and learn and hope to bounce back on the road."

Webber fell to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in The Sun Conference while Southeastern improved to 1-0 in both categories.

Webber will return to action at 4:30 p.m. at Ave Maria University on Saturday, November 17, for the Warriors' first road game in conference play.