BABSON PARK, Fla. (February 11, 2021) – In what was a matchup between the two teams battling for the final spot in The Sun Conference postseason tournament, the Webber International University men's basketball team fell for the second time this season against Southeastern University, this time losing by only one point at 64-63 on Thursday night inside the Sabbagh Athletic Center.
In addition to being the second win this season for Southeastern (11-14 overall, 5-13 The Sun Conference) over Webber (9-19, 5-13), it was also the end of a nine-game losing streak for the Fire since their 66-56 win over the Warriors back on January 9 in Lakeland, Florida. Additionally, despite the two teams now being tied in the conference, it is Southeastern who owns the tiebreaker over Webber for the final spot in the conference tournament.
Rasheem Etienne led the Warriors with 15 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range, and
Eddie Davis scored 13 points on 3-for-6 shooting from three.
Marcus Massey scored eight points on 2-for-2 shooting from three, including a buzzer beater at the end of the game.
The Warriors finished 11-for-19 from 3-point range in the game, which tied Webber's season-high in 3-point makes this year. Southeastern, meanwhile, was only 5-for-17 (29.4 percent) from three, but outscored Webber 26-12 on points in the paint.
Webber led by as much as 15 points in the first half at 29-14 on a 3-pointer by
Deante Green with 4:13 left before halftime.
The Warriors then led by 11 at halftime at 32-21 as Etienne sank a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, but then the Fire started off the first four and a half minutes of the second half on a 14-2 run to take a one-point lead at 35-34.
Late in the game, Etienne connected on another 3-pointer to tie the game at 59-59, but a 3-pointer by Southeastern on its next possession put the Fire back up by three with under a minute left. Then with only five seconds left, two free throws by the Fire made it a four-point game to put the game out of reach.
Next up for the Warriors will be their final road game of the season as Webber plays at Ave Maria University at 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 13. It will be the third meeting this season between the Warriors and the Gyrenes as Webber has won both of the previous matchups between the two teams this season by only one possession. The Warriors beat the Gyrenes, who were in first place in the conference at the time during both meetings, by scores of 82-80 on the road and 76-73 at home.
