LAKELAND, Fla. (January 8, 2022) – The St. Thomas University (STU) Men's Basketball team (6-6, 3-4 SUN) traveled up to Central Florida to take on the receiving votes Southeastern University Fire (15-3, 6-1 SUN) from The Furnace. The Fire took the tight contest 91-85 in the first match up of the season.
 
Bobcat Starters
Chris Whitaker
Dwayne Russell
Jonas Parker
Augustus Stone
Jahsim Floyd
 
Game Notes
St. Thomas opened the contest with the first bucket coming from Dwayne Russell off the glass from Jonas Parker. Chris Whitaker was the star of the night having the hot hand and scoring six of his career-high 30-points on his first two three-point attempts. The Fire took the lead at the 13:23 mark in the first half and would hold onto it for the rest of the game.
 
The Bobcats brought the game close and held it to a one possession game for the majority of the contest. After Southeastern took a 10-point lead, St. Thomas worked their way back to cut it to five heading into the half, 48-43.
 
Whitaker had 15-points after the first 20-minutes of play, leading all scorers. The Bobcats shot 54-percent from behind the arc in the first half. St. Thomas came into the second half and used a 16-7 run to cut a 14-point deficit to five. Augustus Stone hit a big time three-pointer that set up Russell to bring the game within two with 7:52 remaining.
 
The Fire were able to add a little space and keep it a two-possession game to close out the final five minutes.
 
Box Score Notables

• Chris Whitaker had a career-high 30-points shooting 56-percent from the field, 67-percent from behind the arc and 86-percent from the charity stripe.
• Dwayne Russell recorded his fifth-straight double-double with 10-boards and 14-points.
• Jonas Parker scored in double-digits for the 10^th time this season with 12-points.

 
Up Next
St. Thomas will take on some non-conference action hosting University of Fort Lauderdale at home on Wednesday, January 12.