LAKELAND, Fla. - A late first half run took the wind away from the College of Coastal Georgia men's basketball team as they dropped their Wednesday night matchup with the Southeastern Fire by a final of 74-57 in Lakeland, Fla. 

The Mariners (7-10, 4-4 SUN) got their first five points of the game from their junior big man Valdy Zephir who was the entire offense for CCGA for the first five minutes of the game until Salle Wilson chimed in with a jumper of his own. Preston Crisp got the Mariners lead up to four, but the Fire didn't stay down for long, retaking the lead at the 13:21 mark in the first half. For the majority of the half, both teams traded baskets and neither side built a lead larger than four until the four minute mark in the half. With the score tied at 31 a piece, the Fire (9-12, 5-4 SUN) pulled away with a 15-0 run over the final three minutes and 46 seconds to take a 13 point lead into the halftime break. 

Zephir led the Mariners with nine points followed by Camara with seven. Both sides struggled from the field, combining to shoot 3-20 from the three point line. CCGA did shoot 48 percent from the field, but Southeastern pulled away thanks to their 59 percent clip for the half.

The second half was no more fruitful for the Mariners as they could not pull away from the Fire even with the Mariners outshooting the Fire in the half, but the deficit at the half was too much to overcome as Southeastern took home the victory by a final score of 74-57. 

Zephir finished with a team high 18 points, shooting 7-11 from the floor in the outing. Wilson was the only other Mariner in double figures, finishing with 11. 

CCGA will now turn their attention to the Bobcats of St Thomas in a matchup with postseason implications. Tip off is set for 4:00 p.m. from Miami.