LAKELAND, Fla. – In game one of the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic in the Streamline Sale Arena at Jenkins Field House at Florida Southern College, Saint Leo saw its lead slip away in the second half before eventually falling to No. 7 Valdosta State 96-92 Friday night. Kyran McClure scored a career-high to attempt to give the Lions the neutral site win.
 
"Valdosta State is a great offensive team," Head Coach Lance Randall stated after the 96-92 loss to the Blazers. "They had a lot of timely shots in some key times, but the bottom line was we had some guys that came not ready to play and they exposed us in the second half as being soft and we didn't push back."
 
Randall continued, "We were soft inside. They had their way with us, got to the line and had easy baskets. They did nothing complicated; they were just tougher than us. We have to bounce back and be ready for tomorrow."
 
Saint Leo (5-2) dropped just its second game of the year, and second against a ranked opponent but had the lead for 29:36 of the contest. The Green and Gold saw themselves up on the Blazers by 16 points in the first half.
 
From the floor, the Lions shot 52.1-percent (25-48) and 60-percent (12-20) from beyond the arc while sinking 30-for-37 from the free throw line (81.1-percent), behind McClure's 25-for-27 night from the stripe.
 
Entering the game, McClure was 27-for-28 from the line, in which he almost matched his season performance from the stripe in just one game. Wade Coomer (14), Gintaras Bartaskas (11), and Isaiah Hill (10) joined McClure in double-figures. Tyler Carter came off the bench and played 24 minutes and scored seven points and hauled in a team-high six boards.
 
"We have got to execute better," Randall mentioned. "And it's probably hard to see from a fans point of view, but we have a ton of errors out there. Little stuff that leads to big stuff, and honestly just disappointed in our lack of toughness tonight."
 
Valdosta State (6-1) saw Clay Guillozet score a season-high 27 points for the Blazers while Darrell Jones and Bryce Smith added 20 points, apiece. Cam Hamilton chipped in with 10 points off the bench. Jones capped his double-double with a game-high 14 boards.
 
Both teams took turns leading in the first half before the Green and Gold secured a 10-point lead, 29-19, with 8:29 to play. The Lions extended their lead to 44-28 with 2:32 to play before Valdosta State cut it to just 10, 50-40, at the half time break.
 
Turnovers on the Lions' first two possessions of the second half saw the Blazers cut it to six, before a jumper from McClure and a three from Wade Coomer pushed it back to 11. With 14 minutes to play, Saint Leo held a 16-point lead, 64-48, before Valdosta State pressured the ball and kept moving inside to chip away at the deficit.
 
Valdosta State used a 22-7 run over a six-minute span to cut it to just one point, 71-70, before taking a 74-73 lead with 6:49 to go. The two teams would go back and forth scoring as the Blazers held the slight edge taking the ball out of the Lions' hands by fouling to trade three points for two. The game would end with 11 free throws as Valdosta State went on for the 96-92 win.
 
Beyond the Boxscore

• Kyran McClure scored 39 points for a new career-high surpassing his previous 30 points high.
• McClure went 25-for-27 from the free throw line, almost surpassing his season mark through the first six games.
• The Lions lone two losses on the year are to top-16 teams; 56-48 vs #16 UAH, 96-92 vs #7 VSU.

 
Up Next
Saint Leo returns to Streamline Sale Arena at George Jenkins Field House Saturday against New Haven at 5:30 p.m. to close out play at the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving classic.
 
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.