AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (6-15, 3-9) at Southeastern University Fire (17-6, 10-2)
When: Saturday, February 1, 2020
Where: Southeastern University, Lakeland, Fla.| The Furnace
Tip-off: 7 p.m.* (30 minutes following women's game)
Last Meeting: Jan. 4, 2020, Loss 58-80
Live Stream Video & Stats: https://team1sports.com/southeasternfire/
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – If Florida Memorial University's men are to climb their way up into the top six of the Sun Conference standings, they need to string together wins over the remainder of the season – beginning with Saturday's road tilt against Southeastern University.
The men's game is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Southeastern's home arena – The Furnace – but it will actually tip-off 30 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game, which tips at 5 p.m.
FMU (6-15, 3-9 Sun Conference) loss another bit of the control it had over its postseason destiny this past Thursday, falling to Ave Maria University.
It's been unfortunate timing – given the stakes of the games left on the schedule – that Florida Memorial has had to deal with a bad rash of injuries over the past handful of weeks. 7-foot junior center
Mubashar Ali, the team's and Sun Conference's leading rebounder this season, has missed the past two games with concussion-like symptoms; guard
Freddy Reeves Jr. has missed a pair of games with an ankle injury; and junior
Kaleb Darrett missed Thursday's game against Ave Maria. To their benefit, sophomore
Jordan Collins returned to the lineup Thursday, but that was after he had missed the previous four games with an injury.
The combo of senior
Jordan Martin and junior
Quvondo Johnson has stepped in the absence of their teammates. Johnson has recorded double-doubles in back-to-back games and has scored no lower than 16 points in the past four games while Martin has continued to force opposing defenses to respect his outside shot – creating driving lanes for Johnson and others.
It's unclear whether any of Ali, Reeves, or Darrett will be available for head coach
Ansar Al-Ameen Saturday.
Still, the absence of Ali – and most recently Darrett – has been a lot for the Lions to overcome. Standing in their way on Saturday will be a Southeastern team that handed the Lions an 80-58 loss in their first meeting back in January and will be looking to get back on the winning side of things themselves since the Fire (17-6, 9-2) were upended by St. Thomas University this past Thursday.
