ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The Saint Leo men's basketball team traveled to Flagler College in non-conference action where the Lions' comeback was short in the end, falling to the Saints, 75-70 inside the Flagler Gymnasium.
 
The Lions (4-4) saw Drago Popovic lead the way with 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, 57.1-percent. Popovic went 3-for-3 from the free throw line to pace the Lions with a 100-percent night.
 
"Our shooting wasn't at its best, and that comes with the game of basketball," Vince Alexander stated, Saint Leo's head basketball coach. "We couldn't get the ball to fall from the three-point area and we were forced to go inside. Drago [Popovic] and Pape [Nogom] played big roles inside for us and Drago was able to lead us in scoring tonight."
 
Isaiah Hill played 34 minutes and score 15 points, while adding five rebounds, five assists, four steals and one block on the night.
 
Tyreece Brice was rebound shy of a double-double scoring 12 points for the Green and Gold and hauling in nine boards. Brice dished out four assists on the night while swiping two away from the Saints.
 
As a team, the Lions committed just eight turnovers, the fewest in any game this season.
 
"As a staff we strive to get our guys to take care of the rock and tonight we were able to do that," Alexander added about the eight turnovers. "Realistically we would like that number lower, but going from double-digits to nine in our last outing to now eight, we know our guys are listening to what we say and are buying into the system."
 
The Lions recorded just two games of less than 10 turnovers prior to the loss to Flagler.
 
Alexander went on to add, "Not often can you turn the ball over just eight times to your opponents 19 and you lose. That's rare, and tonight we were on the wrong side of that. We will reset and look to the weekend knowing that we corrected one side of the game, and now need to get firing on all cylinders."
 
The Basics
Final Score: Flagler 75, Saint Leo 70
Location: Flagler Gymnasium | St. Augustine, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 4-4, 2-0 SSC | Flagler 3-1

How It Happened…
1H | With home court advantage on their side, the Saints scored the first points of the contest on a three-pointer by Vaughn McCall, and never looked back. After falling behind by five points within 15:19 to play, the Lions were able to cut it to one point twice, 8-7 and 10-9 on two buckets by Pape Ngom, with 12:50 to go in the opening period. Flagler would maintain their lead before pushing it to double-digits, 28-18, with 3:58 on the clock. Saint Leo cut it back to eight, 29-21, on a DeAndre King three-pointer, before the Saints answered with a layup with 2:06 to go, making it back to a 10-point game, 31-21. Neither team would score a point over the final two minutes of the first half as the Saints went into the locker room with a 10 point cushion. | Flagler 31-21 |
 
2H | Coming out of the gates quick in the second half, Flagler sank a three-pointer followed by a layup to push its lead to 15 with 18:58 to play in regulation, 36-21. The Lions would slowly chip away at the lead and cut it to four points, 61-57, on a Drago Popovic layup. Flagler would push their lead back to eight, 65-57 with 5:53 to play before the Lions again would chip away and cut it to just three-points on another Popovic jumper, 73-70, with 21-ticks on the clock. The Saints rushed down the court and laid it in to make it a five-point game, 75-70, with 7-ticks to go. Saint Leo's final attempt was no go as the Lions fell by five points to the Saints. | Flagler 75-70 |
 
Points to Note

• The Lions' three-game skid came to an end with the five-point setback, but still holds their Sunshine State Conference two-game win streak.
• Eight of the Lions' 11 players that touched the court scored on the night. Saint Leo went 13-of-18 from the charity stripe.
• The Lions' three-point shooting left them out of the game, going 1-for-22 for the night from downtown.
• Saint Leo committed just eight turnovers, the fewest of any game this season, breaking the nine turnover games against Point Loma and Embry-Riddle.
• Saint Leo outscored Flagler 49-44 in an attempt to erase the 10-point halftime deficit.

For Flagler

• The Saints moved to 3-1 with the 75-70 win over the Lions.
• Flagler saw Damerit Brown lead all scorers with 27 points as Vaughn McCall added 18 and Chris Williams 13.
• FC shot 42.6% (26-61) from the field including 40% (6-15) from downtown. The Saints shot 89.5% (17-19) from the charity stripe on the night.
• Flagler led for 39:25 of the contest, or 98.5-percent of the game.

Saint Leo returns to the court on Friday, Nov. 24 when it takes on Midwestern State in Lakeland, Fla. at Florida Southern College in the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic. The Lions will square off with the Mustangs at 5:30 p.m. Friday before taking on the Le Moyne Dolphins on Nov. 25 at 5:30 p.m.
 
For the latest news, updates, and information on the Saint Leo men's basketball, be sure to visit SaintLeoLions.com. Fans can also stay up-to-date on the latest Lions news by following Saint Leo Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.