LAKELAND, Fla. - Ninth ranked St. Thomas (22-6, 16-2 TSC) closed out the regular season with a 70-67 win over host Southeastern (17-10, 10-8 TSC) on Saturday night.  

With the regular season Sun Conference Championship already clinched, the Bobcats continued their winning ways nonetheless.  St. Thomas will take its momentum into the Sun Conference Championship Tournament which will be held on Feb. 26 and 27 at the Fernandez Family Center.

The Bobcats, by virtue of winning the conference championship, will be the number one seed in the TSC Championship tournament and receive a bye through the quarterfinals.

On Saturday night, the Bobcats were led by senior center Raheem Bowman who recorded yet another double with 24 points and 17 rebounds. It was a dominant and efficient night for Bowman who made 10 of his 14 field goal attempts while also going 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Mikhail Rolle also scored in double figures with 14 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.  Philip Saunders added eight points to the winning cause.

The game came down to the final minute as the Fire tried to rally from a 69-63 deficit after a Fotios Malelis layup with 90 seconds to play put the Bobcats up by six.

SEU cut the Bobcats' lead to four, then to two points with just four seconds remaining. STU was able to hold on to the victory however as a free throw by Mikon Hewitt with two seconds left finished off the scoring.

Next up for the Bobcats will be the semifinals for The Sun Conference Championship Tournament to be held Monday, Feb. 26 at the Fernandez Family Center.  The Bobcats will play the winner of the Southeastern-Warner quarterfinal.

With a win in the semis, St. Thomas would then play in the conference championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. also at the Fernandez Family Center.

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