TAMPA, Fla. – For the opening weekend of basketball around Division II, the fans at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center got what felt like an NCAA caliber game between the Saint Leo Lions and the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers in the opening game of the Gulf South Conference vs. Sunshine State Conference Challenge.
Despite the Lions (1-3) falling to Ala.-Huntsville (1-0) by two, the Green and Gold went toe-to-toe with the school that knocked them out of the NCAA tournament two years ago, head coach
Vince Alexander's first season at the helm.
"We are proud of our guys and the way they fought," Alexander stated following the game. "With some of our inexperience on the court, we missed key shots, turned the ball over and didn't rebound, but our commitment to not quit allowed for us to overcome the Chargers' runs that could've been detrimental to the outcome of the game. But we overcame the deficit because our guys worked hard and listened to what we were saying to them."
"We have to get our guys to rebound and contest easy shots so we can give ourselves a better opportunity on the court. As a staff we will keep emphasizing that to the guys and look to tomorrows matchup with North Alabama," Alexander added.
Saint Leo was paced by four newcomers with
DeAndre King leading the way with 21 points. King, who went 7-for-15 from the field, would make 50-percent of his shots from downtown going 4-for-8, while adding three free throws.
Kyran McClure and
Isaiah Hill would match each other with 11 points, while
Daniel Duarte chipped in with 10. Hill finished off his first double-double for the Lions with 11 rebounds as well, cleaning the defensive glass with 10 defensive boards.
The Basics
Final Score: Ala.-Huntsville 82, Saint Leo 80
Location: University of Tampa | Tampa, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 1-3 | Ala.-Huntsville 1-0
How It Happened…
1H | Saint Leo would come out of the gates and control the pace of the game going up by as many as seven after back-to-back three's by
DeAndre King, 15-8. A hot shooting Chargers team would close the gap to 26-25, before taking a lead for a minute of play. UAH would take a late four point lead, 36-32, with 3:37 to play. The Chargers would claim a 36-34 lead late in the half before
Daniel Duarte hit a shot on the opposite side of the court giving the Lions a 38-37 lead. UAH would call a quick timeout with 28-ticks left before the Green and Gold grabbed the defensive board and raced down the court.
Kyran McClure would nail a three pointer at the buzzer to give the Lions a 41-39 lead at the break. King's three three-pointers and one free throw would give him the team lead at the break with 10 points. | Saint Leo 41-39 |
2H | Saint Leo came out of the break and rushed out to its largest lead of the game, nine points, 50-41, with a
Daniel Duarte layup with 17:01 on the clock. The Chargers would push the pace and run the score back to a two point game, 52-50 with 14:22 to go in the final half of regulation. A UAH three by Chayse Elliott would allow for the Chargers to take a 53-52 lead before the Lions reclaimed the lead on a
DeAndre King layup a minute later, 54-53. Over the next five minutes, the two teams would play close before UAH would string together a run, going out to a 12-point margin, 76-64 with 6:29 to play. Down by 12 again, 78-66, Saint Leo would put together their own run started by two free throws from
Tyreece Brice, cutting the deficit to 10, 78-68 UAH with 3:47 to play. Down but not out, the Lions saw the defense step up and allow for fast break opportunities for
Isaiah Hill who would score five straight points forcing a timeout by UAH, 78-73 Chargers. Back down the floor, Hill would once again score to make it a three point game. UAH would get a layup at the other end of the court before
Kyran McClure nailed a jumper to keep it a three point game, 80-77 with 1:09 to play. A huge defense stop with 34-seconds left allowed for
Tyreece Brice to find
DeAndre King for the three to tie things, 80-80, with 17-seconds to play. UAH raced down the court and allowed for a quick layup and gave the Chargers the 82-80 lead. With 2.8 to play, the Lions would turnover the ball on an attempt to get the ball inbounds as UAH went on for the two point win. | UAH 82-80 |
Points to Note
- Four players would score double-digit points led by DeAndre Kings' 21 points.
- Isaiah Hill tallied a double-double with 11-11. Hill added three assists, two steals and one block to his stat line.
- The Lions shot 42.9-percent from the field (27-63) for the game while they shot 70-percent (14-20) from the charity stripe. Saint Leo would connect on 12-of-27 from downtown for a 44.4-three point percentage
For Ala.-Huntsville
- UAH would see four players score double-digits led by Justin Ward's 19 points. Chayse Elliott and Kip Owens added 12 while Sam Orf added 13 off the bench.
- The Chargers shot 46.9-percent from the field (30-64) for the game while adding a 58.3-percent from downtown (14-24). UAH went 8-for-14 from the free throw line for a game FT% of 57.1.
Saint Leo will return to the Bob Martinez Athletic Center to take on North Alabama at 12 p.m. on Nov. 12 to close out the GSC vs SSC Challenge.
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