SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball opened Sunshine State Conference play with a 75-70 win over Florida Tech Saturday evening in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
"We were a little fragmented offensively, packed it in around to take gaps away and we struggled to finish around the rim tonight," Head Coach Lance Randall mentioned following the Sunshine State Conference opener. "We strung stops together at the end of the first half and in a stretch in the second that really separated us. Our bench was good in the whole game"
 
Saint Leo (5-1, 1-0) has won five straight games, including a 4-0 record at home, and was paced by Kyran McClure who dropped 21 points going 6-of-13 from the field, 4-for-8 from downtown and a 5-for-6 mark from the free-throw line; his missed free throw with 0:25 remaining snapped his nation-leading streak of 27. Gintaras Bartaskas and Tyler Carter were the energy spark off the bench scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.
 
"TC's (Tyler Carter) energy on the bench, whether he comes in or not is outstanding," Randall added. "He does a great job. He has a team-first spirit about him and it's great. Gintaras had a stretch over a week and a half where he struggled to shoot the ball and has picked up momentum and tonight shot the ball really well in the second half. It gave us a breath of fresh air."
 
Randall continued, "TC found some easy baskets at the rim, he was one of the guys that were getting buckets at the rim and finishing and that allowed for some of the separations."
 
Florida Tech (2-3, 0-1 SSC) saw Sesan Russell lead all scorers with 22 points while Runako Ziegler and Niall Harris added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
A back and forth first half saw both teams hold leads where it would be the Lions who used a 10-0 run over the final 2:32 of the half to take a 41-31 into the break.
 
Florida Tech would start the second half strong and make it just a one-possession game, 43-40 and 45-42, before Gintaras Bartaskas and Rusty Moorer each scored to push the lead to eight, 50-42. After a pair of free throws, the Lions extended their lead to 10, 54-44, with 10:37 to play.
 
The momentum carried the Green and Gold to an 18-point gap, 65-47, forcing a Panthers timeout. Florida Tech chipped away at the deficit all the way down to seven points with 2:18 remaining. After Tyler Carter and Yalen Reed each found the bottom of the net to make it 71-60, the Panthers closed the game on a 10-4 run but it was the Green and Gold's free throw shooting that helped keep the distance.  
 
As a team, the Lions kept their sixth straight opponent to under 50-percent shooting as the Panthers were held to 42.9 on 21-of-49 shooting. Saint Leo finished the night at 42.1-percent on 24-of-57 shooting going 12-for-29 from beyond the arc. Saint Leo added 15 points from the free-throw line.
 
The Green and Gold notched 23 points off the Panthers' 21 turnovers, 22 points on the night in the paint as well as 12 on second chance. Saint Leo saw 38 points from its bench to Florida Tech's 14.
 
Up Next
Saint Leo will ride the win streak into the Terrace Hotel Classic Nov. 29-30 at Florida Southern College when the Green and Gold take on Valdosta State on the 29^th and New Haven on the 30^th.
 
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. Don't miss out on the 2019-20 Basketball Pride Pass, now on sale. The Saint Leo Basketball Pride Pass gives each fan admission to all home men's and women's basketball events. For more information visit here.