BRADENTON, Fla - New College men's basketball completed their sweep of the Southeastern University Fire at home after a last second defensive stand delivered them the 67-66 victory.
The two teams had their first conference battle a month earlier in a road game that turned into a high scoring affair, ending in overtime with a 96-94 Banyan victory. While that first face off flashed offensive prowess, the second meeting of the teams was centered around defense. A hot 15-4 start from New College slowly began to evaporate, as the Fire spent most of the first half narrowing the gap before ending the first period down 36-34.
The Banyans managed to keep the Fire at arms length for a chunk of the second half, but with 12 minutes to play in the game, a Southeastern lay-up would give the away team their first lead of the game at 51-50. With neither team able to stretch past their counterpart, the remainder of the game featured an intense back and forth that saw 5 different lead changes. In the final 90 seconds of play, a pair of
Jordan Clark free throws gave the Banyans a 67-66 lead. Southeastern would get the ball back, but after an unproductive possession, the Fire only had three seconds to get the ball in play and put up a game winning shot. New College players smothered the Fire offense, and the desperate Southeastern jump shot in the game's final second was off the rim, ending the game with a 67-66 final score.
Three different Banyans tallied double digit points on offense as
Jordan Clark led the way with 22. Behind him was
Charlie Yoder, who had 14 points and 7 rebounds, and
Diego Eslava with 10 points.
Jack Scott was the rebound leader, collecting nine. Scott was tied at eight with
Shawn Lefresne for defensive rebounds. Lefresne also had a team leading six assists.
New College's home win completed the Banyan's sweep of Southeastern University, making it the first time in program history men's basketball has swept a Sun Conference opponent.
"It's a great feeling," shared assistant coach Drew Lutz after the win. "I think our guys I just- I'm so proud of them and the amount of effort and adversity they've overcome this whole season. Southeastern is a great team and a great program, I'm just super proud of our guys."
Following the win, New College faces a bevy of conference opponents, starting with a home matchup against Webber International on Saturday, February 15th.
