SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo University fell behind quick and struggled to get the ball to drop, as the Lions dropped a Sunshine State Conference matchup 89-76 to the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish Saturday in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.

"PBA played a great game on both sides of the court," Head Coach Lance Randall stated. "They were more physical than us and routinely got the ball in the paint."
 
Saint Leo (9-5, 3-3 SSC) saw four players score double-digits led by Kyran McClure with a game-high 28 points. Isaiah Hill added 14 points while Ty Forman and Rusty Moorer tallied 11 points apiece. Forman led the team in rebounding, cleaning up the glass with nine boards on the night. Yalen Reed added nine points and seven rebounds. 

Palm Beach Atlantic (10-3, 3-2 SSC) was led by Dan Largey with 20 points while five other players scored 10 or more points in De'ondre Jackson (19), Jules Jasmin (14), Dahrius Nunn (13), Malek Barber (10) and Justin Nichelson (10).

Randall continued, "We were sloppy with the ball in the first half and we left 13 points on the free throw line. We gave them too many and-ones the entire game. We found better shots in the second half but shot ourselves in the foot with silly fouls and missed assignments defensively. We had a chance to cut it to single digits late but a turnover and gave them an and-one which basically sealed it. We have a much needed long week of practice to get ready for Lynn."
 
The Sailfish controlled the first half of the game holding the lead for 14:40 including its largest lead of 19 points at the half, 43-24 with a three at the buzzer. The game would go back and forth for the first nine minutes where PBA moved out to a 21-14 lead with 10:10 to play. The Lions battled back to cut it to four, 27-23 on a steal and layup by Isaiah Hill. The Sailfish closed the half on a 16-1 run.
 
Saint Leo would cut the deficit to as close as 11, 52-41, with 12:27 to play on a Tyler Carter layup off a dish from Yalen Reed. After falling behind by 22 with three minutes to play, Saint Leo continued to fight and cut it to 14 points on McClure's free throws with 0:46 showing on the clock. Isaiah Hill's layup with 24-seconds to play brought the contest to its final, 89-76, as the Lions ran out of time and fell to the Sailfish by 13. 
 
Up Next
Saint Leo will have the midweek off before heading to Boca Raton, Fla. on Jan. 11 to face the Lynn Fighting Knights for a 4 p.m. start.
 
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.