BOCA RATON, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball battled the RV/#15 Lynn Fighting Knights to the final buzzer in a tough road matchup where the Lions fell 84-76 behind Rusty Moorer's career-high in the Green and Gold inside the de Hornle Sports & Cultural Center in Boca Raton. 

Moorer paced the Lions (4-9, 1-4 SSC) with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field including a 2-of-5 mark from downtown. Daniel Duarte and Junior Searcy notched 13 points apiece where Searcy grabbed five boards on the night. Yalen Reed led the team in rebounding with nine where he added that to his nine points. 

Lynn (11-0, 4-0 SSC) was led by Michael Baez who tallied a game-high 24 points, ahead of teammate Brandon Bornelus who notched 20 points. Darius Moore added 18 points in the win. 

How It Happened

• Saint Leo came out on fire and raced out to a 5-0 lead behind a jumper from Rusty Moorer and a three-pointer from Junior Searcy. 
• The Lions continued to push the pace and ran to a 10-3 lead with 15:27 to play. Lynn, defending home court and their undefeated streak, flipped the script with a 5-0 run in a minute to cut it to 10-8. 
• After a 14-14 tie with 8:18 to play, the Lions extended their lead to four points before the Fighting Knights took their first lead of the night 21-20. Lynn would cruise to a halftime lead of 39-26. 
• Saint Leo came out of the break and cut the deficit to just nine on Junior Searcy free throws before the Knights made it a 16-point lead, 52-36 with 14:06 to go. 
• Daniel Duarte's three with 10:33 to go, made it a seven-point game before a Rusty Moorer steal and Yalen Reed layup made it just five points, 58-53 with 9:24 to play.
• Lynn would hold the Lions to a two possession game for the rest of the game, as both teams would go on runs over the final 6:50 minutes of action. Saint Leo closed to withing five points with under four minutes to go, 70-65, before a quick Fighting Knights run made it an 11-point game, 76-65. 
• Malik Fuller's layup gave the Lions hope with 23-seconds to go making it a five-point game, 79-74. After two free throws by Lynn, Daniel Duarte would slam home a ball to make it back to five points. Lynn would cap off the game with free throws as the Green and Gold's last minute three-pointer by Junior Searcy was off the mark, leaving the score 84-76 at the horn.

Up Next
Saint Leo will remain on the road as the Green and Gold travel to Embry-Riddle on Jan. 5 to take on the Eagles at 6 p.m.
  
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