FMU Men To Travel To Southeastern Saturday

AT A GLANCE
FMU Lions (2-5, 2-2) at RV Southeastern University Fire (7-3, 3-2)
When: Saturday, December 19, 2020
Where: Southeastern University, Lakeland, Fla. | The Furnace
Tip-off: 4 p.m.
Last Meeting: Feb. 1, 2020, Win 82-73
Live Stream: Link
Live Stats: Link

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – When Florida Memorial University's men's basketball team takes the floor this weekend, it will find itself in a bit of a unique situation.

The Lions are currently tied (with one other team) for fourth place in the Sun Conference standings, sit just a half-game back of the two teams tied for second place, and are only a full game behind the conference's current top team – making Saturday's trip to Lakeland, Florida to face Southeastern University the perfect opportunity for FMU to not only close the 2020 calendar year on a high note but to also put itself in an advantageous position going forward.

A win Saturday would, at the very least, push Florida Memorial (2-5, 2-2 The Sun Conference) ahead of the Fire (7-3, 3-2) – who are currently tied with Warner University (5-2, 3-2) in second place.

The Lions will be benefitting from a bit of an extended respite going into Saturday's game. FMU played a pair of non-counting exhibitions games against NCAA Division-I opponents on December 10 and 12 and will have had almost a full week of practice in preparation to face Southeastern.

FMU head coach Ansar Al-Ameen will look for his team to show the same kind of moxie it displayed during its Dec. 5 win over Webber International University – when the Lions got leading performances from seniors Aubrey Washington and Mubashar Ali.

Washington scored a game-high 23 points that night – earning him Sun Conference Player of the Week honors – while Ali returned to his 2019-20 form when he led the country in total rebounds with a 17-rebound night to go along with 8 points.

Granted, knocking off Southeastern on its home floor won't be an easy task. Up to this point, the Fire are the only team in the Sun Conference to even be receiving votes in the national NAIA basketball rankings and sport the second-best overall record in the conference.

The Fire, who will be playing their second game in as many days Saturday, lead the conference in overall scoring (posting 86.3 points per game) and have the conference's No. 1 individual scorer in sophomore Riley Minix. The 6-foot-7 wing is averaging 22.6 points per contest (shooting 53 percent from the field and 48 percent from three-point range) while also pulling down 10.1 boards – good for second-best in the conference.

Where FMU could look to gain an advantage is in its size.

Al-Ameen could elect to give 6-foot-7 forward Quincy Urbina the assignment of slowing down Minix as he can be physical with the Fire's top scorer while being agile enough to keep up with him, or he could put 6-foot-9 forward Cheikh Kebe on him as Kebe's extra length and athleticism could bother Minix's shot from the outside.

Also, Southeastern won't have a physical contemporary for the 7-foot Ali. The Fire's starting center measures just 6-foot-7, and while shorter yet burlier centers present their own set of challenges, Ali should be able to operate from an advantageous spot most of the night.

What has put the Lions over the top in its victories this season has been added scoring punch from its backcourt – something that Washington, Sam Mack Jr., and Tristan Stephens have all shown they can provide on a given night.

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