SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball dropped a midweek battle to the Eckerd Tritons 79-74 Wednesday night inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
Saint Leo (9-11, 6-6 SSC) saw five players score in double-figures led by Isaiah Hill's 15 points. Hill went 6-for-10 from the field with three rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.

"It's always tough when you play in the Sunshine State Conference," Head Coach Vince Alexander mentioned following the five-point setback. "We had momentum late in the second half but costly turnovers under two minutes to play let that slip away."
 
Alexander continued, "The guys played tough tonight, and it was good to see more contributing to the scoring, but we have to protect the ball and not turn it over. We will continue to work on that and get better before our weekend trip to Rollins."
 
Kyran McClure (14 points), Gintaras Bartaskas (13 points), Junior Searcy (12 points) and Tyler Carter (11 points) joined Hill in double-figures. Pape Ngom paced the team with a game-high 13 rebounds. McClure added eight assists to his stat line.

"It's nice to see Pape [Ngom] and the rest of the forwards start to work hard and go get rebounds as of late. He grabbed key offensive boards and big defensive boards in the second half which set us up offensively, but we couldn't't capitalize down the stretch."
 
Eckerd (16-4, 9-3 SSC) saw Marco Behori score a game-high 23 points ahead of Drushaun McLaurn's 17 points and Admir Radoncic's 11 off the bench.
 
How It Happened

• After a quick tie at 2-2, Saint Leo ran out to a 12-4 lead capped off by a Junior Searcy dunk from Kyran McClure, as the Lions held their largest lead of the first half at eight points.
• The Tritons would battle back and tie things at 14 with 13:19 on the clock. After a free throw for Eckerd, Gintaras Bartaskas would drain a three to push the Green and Gold ahead, 17-15.
• Eckerd would extend it to a four-point game, 21-17, before Saint Leo tied things back up at 21.
• Both teams would battle closely over the final 8:57 as Eckerd headed into the locker room with a one-point lead, 35-34.
• Back-to-back buckets by the Green and Gold to start the second half saw Saint Leo climb out to a three-point lead after Pape Ngom laid it in, 38-35.
• The Lions would fight hard and extend their lead out to seven points, 47-40, and again at 50-43, with 15:34 to play.
• The Tritons would cut the deficit to one, 54-53, before a three by Marco Behori pushed Eckerd ahead, 56-54. Back-to-back three's by the Lions' Junior Searcy and Tyler Carter allowed the Lions to get within one, 61-60 with 9:24 to play.
• Isaiah Hill's jumper pushed the Green and Gold in front, 62-61 before a free throw tied things at 62 with 7:34 to go, before another free throw from Eckerd made it 63-62 with 6:37 on the clock.
• Both teams would battle down the stretch, exchanging points before free throws for the Tritons would push Eckerd ahead, 77-70 with 32.9-ticks left.
• Gintaras Bartaskas would go 1-for-2 from the free throw line making it 77-71 with 22.6 to play before Junior Searcy nailed a three to make it 79-74 heading to the final buzzer. 

Up Next
The Lions will head hit the road for their next contest and travel to Winter Park, Fla. to take on the Rollins College Tars at 4 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.