LAKE WALES, Fla. - The Royals fought hard against (RV) Southeastern in a game that saw 9 lead changes and 8 ties, but despite their best efforts the Royals were unable to knock off the Fire at home falling 74-69.
Warner and (RV) Southeastern went back-and-forth throughout Saturday's game as the two programs struggled to find an edge over the other. The Royals found their largest lead of the night, 7 points, with 7 minutes remaining in the 1st half. The Fire would work their way back to take a 34-32 lead into halftime. Neither team slowed down in the 2nd half as both teams continued to battle as SEU would take a 64-56 lead with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game Warner refused to back down against the fringe NAIA Top 25 team and would fight all the way back to take a 69-68 lead with 1:23 on the clock, a 13-to-4 run over about 4 minutes. After the Fire retook the lead with 25 seconds left in regulation, Warner would have opportunities to tie the game in the dying seconds but were unable to get the 3-point shot to fall and would go on to drop the SUN Conference matchup 74-to-69.
Four of the Royals starters scored double-digits in Saturday's SUN Conference bout with Senior
Jamal Norris leading the way with 17 points as he shot 6-12 overall and 3-8 from beyond the 3-point arc. Norris also added 2 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block against the Fire.
Seth Childers and
Bryson Castillo scored 13 and 12 points respectively Saturday evening. Childers was able to secure 3 rebounds while recording 4 assists 1 steal, while Castillo lead the Royals with 5 rebounds.
Warner turned their defense into offense against the Fire as they scored 22 points off of turnovers. The Royals shot 24-50 (48.0%) from the field while going 10-25 (40.0%) from downtown and 11-13 from the Free Throw line in the back-and-forth SUN Conference bout.
The Royals will look to bounce back when they take on New College of Florida next Wednesday.
Warner Game Leaders
Points: Jamal Norris - 17 Points (6-12 FG, 3-8 3PT, 2-2 FT)
Rebounds: Bryson Castillo - 5 (2 OFF, 3 Def)
Assists: Seth Childers, Marcel Pace – 4
Steals: Marcel Pace - 3
Up Next:
The Royals will travel to Sarasota to take on
New College of Florida on
Wednesday, February 18th with a scheduled tip-off time of
7:00pm.
#GodBlessGoRoyals | #TogetherAsOne
