Southeastern's Cody Welch at the foul line (pictured above)
Southeastern rallied from a 38-31 deficit in the fourth quarter, to beat Alexander 44-40 in their season opener at the Larry Jordan Gymnasium Friday night.
The Panthers trailed most of the game, but led where it mattered most, at the end of the game. SE trailed 11-6 after the first quarter, but finished strong in the second period for a 16-15 lead at half.
The Spartans shot 55% in the third quarter to build a 31-26 advantage after three periods. Things were looking dim midway through the fourth quarter when Alexander led 38-31. Southeastern then went on a 8-1 run to grab a 39-38 lead, only to see Alex respond with a bucket for their last lead at 40-39.
The Panthers closed on a 5-0 run, thanks to a big three-point play from Lane Ruby for a 42-40 lead, then a defensive stand that saw Cody Welch bat a rebound to Rex Hartman. Hartman was fouled with 2.9 seconds left and went to the foul line to put the game away by sinking two free throws.
Neither team shot well from the field, with Southeastern going 15/48 for only 31% and were 6/19 from the three-point arc. A big reason for their poor shooting percentage was their 17% first quarter. The Panthers were big at the foul line with 8/12. SE also only committed 6 turnovers for the game.
Alexander was 14/44 from the field for 32%, but 7/14 from the arc. They were 5/8 from the charity stripe and turned the ball over 9 times.
The smaller Panthers were even in team rebounding at 28-28.
Hartman led Southeastern with a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Lane Ruby added 11 points and Cody Welch had 10 points and 5 rebounds. Reece Wheeler pitched-in 3 points and grabbed 7 rebounds.
The Spartans were led by Ryan Davidson's 16 points and J.K. Kearns with 8 points. 6'9 sophomore Caleb Terry had 5 points, 5 blocked shots and 9 boards.
Listen to the game replay on our podcast link found below....