LAKELAND, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball fought hard against the No. 13 team in the country, Le Moyne College, where the Green and Gold came up short inside the George W. Jenkins Field House in the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic.
 
The Lions fall to 5-5 on the year where the Dolphins move to 6-1. Saint Leo erased a 10-point deficit in the first half to trail by one at the break, 48-47 with a 13-for-13 mark from the free throw line. The Lions would push that mark to 16-for-16 before their first miss from the free throw line.

"We started off slow and that helped Le Moyne get out early by 10, and we had to fight to get back into the game," Vince Alexander stated after the loss to No. 13 Le Moyne. " Our guys started to get things right and do as we said and we climbed back into the game to close the half down by one [48-47]."
 
"Going 13-for-13 from the free throw line in the first half is a testament to what we have said all season; we will work on our free throw shooting and be great at that." Alexander added. "Shooting 100-percent in the first and finished with just four misses, is a good performance. We just needed to take care of the ball better in the second half."
 
Junior Searcy would notch a career-high 26 points on the night to pace the Lions going 7-for-12 from the field with a 5-of-8 mark from downtown. Searcy was a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line before finishing the game at 7-for-9. Searcy would add six rebounds to his stat line on the night.
 
Tyreece Brice would follow Searcy in the scoring column with 16 points of his own, going 4-for-8 from the field with a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Brice would add five assists and four rebounds to his night.
 
DeAndre King would continue to provide, as he finished with 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. King would make one extra field goal while adding two rebounds and two assist with one block to his line. Isaiah Hill added 11 points with four rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal on the night, finishing as the lone Lion to register a stat in each column.

Alexander went on to say, "We got behind early in the second half, and with being young, it allowed Le Moyne to keep their distance. We took poor shots late in the game after we got it to seven but in the end our defense failed to stop the Dolphins on the other end, but we have one day to get ready for our next opponent (Hampton) and we will focus on rebounding and turnovers while we continue to practice shooting."
 
The Basics
Final Score:  #13 Le Moyne 91, Saint Leo 82
Location: George W. Jenkins Field House | Lakeland, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 5-5 | #13 Le Moyne 6-1

How It Happened…
1H | Saint Leo and Le Moyne would come out and play even for the first four minutes, trading buckets before the Dolphins took a 13-9 lead into the first media timeout with 15:48 to play. Junior Searcy would go 3-for-3 from the free throw line to cut it to a 15-12 lead before the Dolphins took an 18-14 lead into the second media timeout. Out of the timeout, Searcy made both free throws to make it 18-16 with 11:49 to play. Le Moyne would build out to a nine point margin, 30-21, on two straight layups before DeAndre King hit one from downtown to cut it to six, 30-24. The Dolphins would push it back to eight, 32-24, with 7:06 to play before Tyreece Brice hit two free throws to cut it back to six, 32-26. King would hit two three's on two possessions to cut the Lions' deficit to three, 37-34, prior to the Dolphins running it back to a eight point lead with three straight three-pointers on their offensive half to take a 46-38 lead at the final media of the first half. Saint Leo closed the half on a 9-2 run, capped by an Isaiah Hill layup, to make it a one-point Dolphins lead at the break. | Le Moyne 48-47 |
 
2H | After being held to zero points over the last 2:21 of the first half, Le Moyne came out on an 8-2 run to take a 56-49 lead. Junior Searcy would pace the Lions with five points to make it a four point game, 58-54 before the Dolphins hit a three-pointer heading into the media timeout, 61-54. Saint Leo would cut it to three points, 63-60 with 13:56 with a Searcy three, Isaiah Hill free throw and two free throws from Jesse Huff. For 2:39, both teams would go scoreless after the Dolphins three made it a five-point game, 65-60 with 11:05 to play in the second half. With two seconds on the shot-clock, Searcy would get the ball and nail a buzzer beater to cut the game to two, 65-63. The Dolphins would answer with a 7-2 run to take a 72-65 lead into the under-eight media timeout. Saint Leo used a 4-0 run to cut it to five, before Le Moyne pushed the pace and ran out to a 10 point lead, 79-69 where the Lions wouldn't get closer than seven, after a Jesse Huff three with 26-ticks left (87-80), before the Dolphins went on for the nine point victory. | Le Moyne 91-82 |
 
Points to Note

• The Lions shot 85.7% (24-28) from the free throw line after a 13-for-13 first half performance. Saint Leo finished the day shooting 45.3% (24-53) from the field and 41.7% (10-24) from downtown.
• Junior Searcy passed his career-high of 20 points with his 26 against the Dolphins. Searcy's prior career-high was set against Midwestern State on Nov. 24.
• The Lions starting five scored 71 of the 82 points with Isaiah Hill, Junior Searcy, DeAndre King, and Tyreece Brice all in double-figures. Kyran McClure added six points off the bench where Jesse Huff tallied five.
• Saint Leo limited the turnovers against No. 13 Le Moyne with just nine, four in the first half and five in the second.
• The Lions won the rebounding title with 26-25.

For Le Moyne

• Le Moyne saw five players score double-digits behind Russell Sangster's team-high 15 points. Each guy that touched the court for the Dolphins score a minimum of five points, where the bench scored 33 points.
• The Dolphins shot a perfect 100-percent from the free throw line going 10-for-10, all in the second half.
• Le Moyne finished the night shooting 62.5% (35-56) from the field.

Saint Leo will return to the hardwood on Monday, Nov. 27 in Hampton, Va. when the Lions travel to NCAA Division I Hampton University for a 7 p.m. tip.
 
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