SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball slipped past Florida Southern 69-68 in the Sunshine State Conference opener, as well as the home opener for the Lions inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
The Lions (3-3, 1-0 SSC) led for 36:58 of the 40 minutes where the Green and Gold sustained the Moccasins late surge in the second half. Saint Leo held a seven point lead at the break, and held off the Mocs 35-29 second half performance to win by one.
 
"It was nice to open our home portion of the season with a win, but it wasn't easy, and I think the fans and support helped," Head Coach Vince Alexander stated. "It was a great atmosphere in the Bowman Center, and I think our guys enjoyed the fans there to support us early in our season and I think when it came down to the final seconds, the momentum in the gym stayed in our favor with the fans there."
 
Alexander went on to add, "It's not easy opening up conference play this early in November, but to open play with a win is a nice feeling. We will celebrate the win, but we will have to get back to work in the gym and look towards our opponent Saturday. We continue to struggle at taking care of the ball and we will continue, as a coaching staff, helping our guys improve that part of the game."
 
Junior Searcy was all over the court as the forward paced the team in scoring with 20 points on the night. Searcy went 7-for-9 from the field including a 3-for-4 performance from downtown. The junior added three freebies from the charity stripe to round out his scoring as he added five rebounds, four defensive and one offensive board, three blocks and one steal on the night.
 
In his home debut, Isaiah Hill continued to thrive as the guard scored 12 points, including a 4-for-5 performance from the free throw line. Hill snagged six defensive boards while he tallied four assists, three steals and two blocks.
 
Tyreece Brice found his way into double-digits with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field. Brice hauled in six boards, dished out five assists and swiped three steals in 28 minutes of action.
 
Alexander went on to say, "We will work on closing out games instead of falling into these lulls and allow large runs late in games when we are changing out personnel. We got the win, but now we will focus on our game this weekend."
 
The Basics
Final Score: Saint Leo 69, Florida Southern 68
Location: Marion Bowman Activities Center | Saint Leo, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 3-3, 1-0 SSC | Florida Southern 1-2, 0-1 SSC

How It Happened…
1H |  Florida Southern came out and scored the first two points on a jumper before the Lions answered with a 9-0 run featuring a fast break dunk by Isaiah Hill, a Hill layup and a Junior Searcy three. The Lions 9-2 lead forced a Florida Southern timeout. The Mocs would slither their way back into the contest after tying it at 17-17 with two free throws. Saint Leo wasted no time ending their 4:37 scoring drought before DeAndre King hit a three pointer in the corner to push Saint Leo back to a 20-17 lead. The Mocs would gain a 21-20 lead on a layup before Isaiah Hill converted on two free throws, 22-21 Saint Leo with 8:51 to play in the half. Back-to-back trips for the Lions saw five points in favor of the Green and Gold as Saint Leo pushed their lead to 27-23. Florida Southern would erase the deficit to tie it 28-28 before back-to-back three's by Jesse Huff and Junior Searcy for the Lions allowed the Green and Gold to push to a 34-28 lead. The Mocs answered on the other end before Kyran McClure converted an and-one with a jumper and free throw, Lions lead 37-30 with 3:36 to play. Saint Leo would close the half holding the Mocs to no field goals in the last 3:06, and hold a seven point lead at the break. | Saint Leo 40-33 |
 
2H | The Lions came out of the intermission and pushed their lead to 10, on a Junior Searcy three-pointer, forcing a Mocs timeout, 43-33. Saint Leo would push its lead to 13 on a DeAndre King and-one opportunity with 16:39 to play, 48-35. The Mocs would slowly chip away with pressure and cut the lead to one, 52-51 with 8:53 to play after a 13-2 run over 6:15 of action, forcing the Lions to call time. Isaiah Hill came out of the timeout and went to work and scored the very next play, 54-51 Saint Leo. The two teams would play even, as the Lions maintained a three point lead, 56-53, at the under-eight media timeout. Florida Southern would use a full-timeout with 4:45 to play after the Lions went 3-for-3 down the court pushing their lead to 64-57. FSC would close the gap to one point, 67-66 with 1:12 to go and kept it at one, 69-68 with a bucket at 0.44 on the clock. Isaiah Hill would swipe the ball on the defensive half with 11.9 to play and get fouled driving down the court. Despite the Lions not being able to capitalize on the free throws, great defensive pressure kept the Mocs from scoring after a last minute three-pointer was off the mark. | Saint Leo 69-68 |
 
Points to Note

• Saint Leo moves to 3-3 on the season. The win moves the Lions to 1-0 in the SSC, the first time starting at 1-0 under the direction of Head Coach Vince Alexander.
• The Lions win over the Mocs was the second straight win and moves the Lions to 4-1 against Florida Southern under Alexander.
• The Lions as a team shot 57.7% from the free throw line (15-26) while they shot 42.9% (24-56) from the field including 31.6% (6-19) from downtown.
• Junior Searcy led the team from downtown, going 3-for-4 with a 3-of-7 mark from the charity stripe. Searcy added three blocks and one steal to his stat line for the night.
• Isaiah Hill and Tyreece Brice joined Searcy in double-digits with 12 and 11, respectively.
• The Lions recorded 11 blocks to the Mocs 2 on the night, as they won the rebounding race, 44-42.

For Florida Southern

• The Mocs fall to 1-2, 0-1 SSC after the loss, falling to 6-5 in their last 11 SSC openers.
• Brett Hanson paced the Mocs with 20 points including 4-of-9 from the free throw line. Hanson shot 50% (8-16) from the field on the night.
• Jonathan Lawton chipped in with 15 points as Jack Rauch added 11.

Saint Leo hits the road for its first Sunshine State Conference matchup on the road as the Lions head to Daytona Beach, Fla. for a 6 p.m. tip with Embry-Riddle.

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