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Cumberland University

Demond Franklin
78
Cumberland (TN) CU 4-8
81
Winner Southeastern SEU 7-5
Cumberland (TN) CU
4-8
78
Final
81
Southeastern SEU
7-5
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Cumberland (TN) CU 31 47 78
Southeastern SEU 36 45 81

Next Game:

vs. Florida College

12/16/2023 | 12:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule
Dec. 16 (Sat) / 12:00 PM
vs. Florida College
History

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Slow Start Dooms Phoenix as Southeastern holds on to win 81-78

LAKELAND, Fla.--The Phoenix had a slow start to the game and never could catch the Fire down the stretch as Southeastern wins 81-78 to open up the SEU Classic. 

Cumberland (4-7) scored the first basket of the game for the only lead in the contest. After that Southeastern built a lead and Cumberland fought back, but failed to tie or take the lead again. 

The Phoenix shot 43.1% from the field and went 8-of-34 from three in the contest. Five Phoenix finished in double-figures led by Demarius Boyd with 17 points. Boyd was held to just three points in the first half. 

Demond Franklin played 38 minutes with 16 points and toed for the team-high in rebounds with eight. Triston Conger had 16 points and also had eight points. He added six assists for a game-high. 

Jaheim Berry finished with 12 points after scoring 10 in the first half and Doyel Cockrill III added 11 points and four assists. 

Southeastern (6-5) did a lot of their damage at the free throw line going 26-of-39. The Fire shot 41.8% from the field and hit nine three-pointers in the game. 

Joshua Blazquez and Makai Vassel combined for 51 of the 81 points for Southeastern. Vassel scored a game-high 26 points with 13 rebounds for a double-double. Blazques scored 25 off the bench on five made threes. 

Cumberland scored on their second possession for a 2-0 lead, but the Phoenix fell cold scoring just one point over the next seven minutes to allow Southeastern to jump out to a 13-3 lead. 

After getting down by 10, the urgency kicked in for Cumberland and they fought back over the next five minutes of play to cut it to a one-possession game trailing 19-16 after Braxton Caruthers made a lay up. 

The Fire pushed it back out to a nine point lead at 28-19 before a 8-2 run and two made threes from Conger and Boyd cut it to 30-27 with three minutes left in the half. 

Cumberland scored four more points in the half, but Southeastern outpaced them over the final three minutes to lead 36-31. 

Boyd got going in the second half after just scoring three points in the first. The opening possession, Cumberland drew up a play for him and he nailed a three which sparked him to score nine of CU's first 13 points of the half. The final of which made it a one-point game down 45-44 with 14 minutes left. 

Back and forth action kept the lead at one to 51-50 before a 10-2 run by the Fire pushed the lead out 61-52. 
Down 64-55, Cumberland went on a 5-0 run as Conger hit two free throws and Boyd drained another three, but the Fire answered with four made free throws to push the lead back out. 

Down the stretch, Cumberland slowly climbed back into a one-possession game, but they ran out of time as the Fire knocked down their free throws in the final minutes. 

The Phoenix won't have to wait long to play again as they take on No. 25 Florida College tomorrow. Florida College is coming off a loss to St. Francis today prior to our game with Southeastern. 
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Players Mentioned

Jaheim Berry

#12 Jaheim Berry

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
Demarius Boyd

#4 Demarius Boyd

G
6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
Braxton Caruthers

#10 Braxton Caruthers

G
5' 9"
Sophomore
Triston Conger

#24 Triston Conger

G
6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
Doyel Cockrill III

#1 Doyel Cockrill III

G
6' 1"
Freshman
Demond Franklin

#5 Demond Franklin

G
6' 2"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Jaheim Berry

#12 Jaheim Berry

6' 1"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Demarius Boyd

#4 Demarius Boyd

6' 1"
Redshirt Junior
G
Braxton Caruthers

#10 Braxton Caruthers

5' 9"
Sophomore
G
Triston Conger

#24 Triston Conger

6' 2"
Redshirt Freshman
G
Doyel Cockrill III

#1 Doyel Cockrill III

6' 1"
Freshman
G
Demond Franklin

#5 Demond Franklin

6' 2"
Senior
G