WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Saint Leo University men's basketball team traveled to Winter Park on Dec. 9 to take on the Rollins College Tars in a Sunshine State Conference matchup at Warden Arena inside the Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center, where the Lions fell 86-58. The loss moves the Lions to 3-2 in the Sunshine State Conference and pulls the overall record even to 7-7. 

DeAndre King led the team in scoring with 20 points on a 6-of-15 performance from the field, all from beyond the arc. King added two assists, two steals and one rebound to his stat line. Isaiah Hill returned to the double-digit scoring column with a 10 point performance with four rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal. 

"We are just inexperienced against the zone, and Rollins pressed us the whole time and our guys panicked," Head Coach Vince Alexander said following the loss. "We just have to get back in the gym and continue to work and focus on our next game. We turned the ball over too much today against the press which allowed for quick points for them and we couldn't isolate the problem. We have nine days to prepare for Thomas and we will get back to work."

The Basics
Final Score: Rollins 86, Saint Leo 58
Location: Warden Arena | Winter Park, Fla.
Records: Saint Leo 7-7, 3-2 SSC | Rollins 8-3, 4-1 SSC

How It Happened…
1H | Rollins opened play on its home court with a 11-1 run forcing a Green and Gold timeout. The Lions would come storming back and use a 12-0 run to take a 13-0 lead on three DeAndre King three-pointers and a three from Jesse Huff. The Tars chipped away at the deficit before taking a 22-21 lead with 8:46 to play. Rollins would use a 6-0 spurt to take a 30-24 lead with 7:13 to play. Kyran McClure banked in a three-pointer as the Tars took a 30-27 lead into the under-six media timeout. The Tars closed the half on a 14-1 run to take a 44-28 lead into the break. DeAndre King would lead all scorers at the break with 12 points on a 4-for-10 performance from beyond the arc. | Rollins 44-28 | 

2H | Saint Leo used a quick layup out of the break to cut it to 14 points, 44-30, before Rollins went on a 8-0 run to take a 22 point lead, 52-30 lead with 16:32 on the clock. Junior Search would cut the deficit with a layup at 16:11, 52-32, before the first media timeout of the half (15:55). Saint Leo closed the deficit to 19, 56-37, on a Isaiah Hill dunk. Rollins continued to pressure and ran back out to a 29 point lead, 72-43 lead with 6:07 to play. The Tars pushed it to 31 points, 78-47, before a DeAndre King three-pointer cut it back to 28, 78-50 with 4:04 to go. Saint Leo used a 10-2 run to close the gap, 80-57, but the Tars would go on for the 23-point win at home. | Rollins 86-58 |

Points to Note

• Saint Leo moves to 7-7, 3-2 SSC on the year
• DeAndre King led the team in scoring with 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting from downtown. King added one rebound and two assists on the day. 
• Isaiah Hill chipped in with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field. Hill snagged four rebounds and dished out four passes. 
• Junior Searcy added eight points on the night with a 4-of-10 performance with four rebounds. 
• The Lions shot 44.4% from the field (20-45) with a 56.3% (9-16) from the free throw line. 

For Rollins

• Rollins moves to 8-3, 4-1 SSC
• Sam Philpott paced the Tars with 25 points on a 11-for-14 performance with three rebounds and two assists.
• Jeff Merton added 14 points (4-8) with four rebounds and two assists. 
• Eric Castaneda and Parker Davis added 11 points and 10 points, respectively. 
• The Tars won the rebounding battle 37-21 where Rollins forced 20 Saint Leo turnovers to 17 of their own.

Saint Leo will take 10 days off before hosting Thomas on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m. inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center. 

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.