DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball travelled to the ICI Center Wednesday night and dropped a tough Sunshine State Conference battle, 108-91 to the Embry-Riddle Eagles behind a 24-point effort from Isaiah Hill, which pushed him over the 1,000-career point mark in the Green and Gold.
 
Isaiah Hill, a senior from Richmond Hill, Ga., scored 24 points to lead Saint Leo (14-11, 8-9 SSC) on the night on 8-of-15 shooting from the floor including a perfect 6-for-6 mark from the free-throw line. Hill is the 25^th player in the Green and Gold to score 1,000 career points where he stands at 1,015 points in three years with the Lions and 1,246 in his collegiate career adding 231 points at Gordon State in 2016-17.
 
"There's a reason Embry-Riddle is 14-4 at home, they're very dynamic on this court and we had no answer for them tonight," Head Coach Lance Randall admitted. "They shot the ball as well or better than any team we played against all year. A lot of it was them but part of it was us."
 
Randall continued, "I thought we competed at a high level, but we didn't communicate or rotate correctly. When we made a mistake, they made us pay. We threw a lot of different things at them, but we really couldn't slow them down for an extended period of time."
 
Hill's 24 points led the Lions where Kyran McClure (21), Yalen Reed (19) and Gintaras Bartaskas (11) all scored in double-figures in the setback. Reed paced the team in rebounding with eight as McClure notched seven assists in the tough road loss to the Eagles.
 
Five players scored in double-digits for ERAU where it was Romeo Crouch who dropped a 39-point game inside the ICI Center. The Eagles were red-hot from beyond-the-arc shooting 53.7-percent (22-41) to distance themselves from the Lions.
 
"They are the number one three-point shooting team in the country and the number two offensive team in the country. Overall, we were not up to the challenge of getting enough stops to make it a game tonight," Randall acknowledged. "We need to regroup and be ready for a battle Saturday at home against Lynn."
 
After a quick 3-3 tie, Embry-Riddle led for the entire contest, not looking back where the Green and Gold stayed within striking distance in the first eight minutes. The Eagles broke it open to double-digits with 8:16 remaining in the opening stanza, 39-28. In four minutes, the Lions cut it to just six points, 46-40, but Embry-Riddle headed into the locker room leading by 11, 57-46.
 
The Eagles would continue to control the pace of the game leading by double-digits for the remainder of the contest. Embry-Riddle climbed out to its largest lead of 19 points with 13:50 to go, 75-56. In 10 minutes of action, the Lions chipped away to make it an 11-point game 3:55 to play on a Kyran McClure setback three-pointer, 96-85. Unable to bring the score to single-digits, ERAU would go on for the 108-91 win.
 
Up Next
Saint Leo returns home to host Lynn at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 22 where the Lions will honor their six seniors prior to tip against the Fighting Knights.
 
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.