LAKELAND, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball fell 86-83 at the hands of the Florida Southern Moccasins inside the George W. Jenkins Field House Wednesday night after leading for 36:43 of the contest.
 
Kyran McClure led Saint Leo (8-10, 5-5 SSC) with a game-high and career-high 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field. McClure went 4-for-7 from downtown and 6-of-7 from the free throw line while adding seven rebounds, two assists and one block to his stat line.
 
Isaiah Hill and Junior Searcy joined McClure in double-figures with 18 and 15 points, respectively. Tyler Carter tallied nine points and eight rebounds, just behind Yalen Reed's game-high nine boards. 

As a team, Saint Leo finished the night shooting 46.9-percent from the field including a 50-percent night from downtown. The Lions went 13-for-18 from the charity stripe for a 72.2-percent performance.
 
Florida Southern (14-4, 6-4 SSC) saw four players in double-digits with Jonathan Lawton leading the way with 29 points, just ahead of Brett Hanson with 23. Ben Marello added 12 points for the Mocs.
 
How It Happened

• Saint Leo came out blazing hot, running to a quick 9-2 lead before climbing to a 11-point lead, 17-6 with 14:16 to play.
• Kyran McClure helped guide the Lions to a 16-point lead after laying it in and going to the line. Despite missing his free throw, Tyler Carter grabbed the offensive board and found McClure behind the arc for a three, making it 22-6 with 12:38 to play.
• The Green and Gold would continue to push the pace and run to a 20-point lead, 43-23, with 6:46 to go before Pape Ngom's two free throws pushed the Lions to their largest lead, 24, with 5:02 to go in the opening half, 49-25.
• Florida Southern would battle back and chip away at the lead as the Lions headed into the locker room ahead, 53-38. Saint Leo would shot 56.3-percent from the field (18-32), 66.7-percent (8-12) from downtown and 81.8-percent (9-11) from the free throw line in the first half of action. 
• The Lions would see their lead drop to 10 as the Mocs opened up the second half on a 5-0 run. Junior Searcy's layup would get the Lions back ahead by 13, 57-44, before Florida Southern's Brett Hanson drained a three to make it 57-47 with 16:42 to go.
• The Lions would use a 7-2 run to push it to 15 points, 64-49. The Mocs and Lions would trade a few points before Florida Southern cut it to 10 points once again with 13:09 on the clock, 65-55.
• A quick 7-0 run by the Mocs saw the game get within three, 65-62 with 11:31 when momentum started to shift. Saint Leo would clingy to a lead and get momentum back after Kyran McClure drained a deep ball, making it 70-63 with 9:30.
• On the Lions heels, the Mocs nipped at the lead and cut it to 74-72 with 5:17 to go on a Hanson layup and again on a Jack Rauch jumper with 3:46 remaining.
• A Jonathan Lawton layup at 2:39 would ti the game at 78-78, the first tie since 0-0. Rauch would go 1-for-2 from the free throw line to give the Mocs their first lead, 79-78.
• Trailing 84-80 with 45-seconds to go, Tyler Carter came down the court and drained a three to cut it to 84-83. Yalen Reed came up huge with 19-seconds to go with a block on the Mocs' Ben Marello before Kyran McClure grabbed a defensive board off and called timeout with 10.9 on the clock.
• The Lions' last second three clanked off the front of the iron, as the Mocs came back to win, 86-83. 

Up Next
Saint Leo will return home to host Palm Beach Atlantic for a 7:30 p.m. tip inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center. The Lions will be supporting Suits & Sneakers as part of the Coaches vs Caner.
 
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.