ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Saint Leo men's basketball earned the first Sunshine State Conference wins on the young season Wednesday night inside the McArthur Center. The Lions traveled to Eckerd College and picked up a 68-66 win after putting together a strong second half.
 
Wade Coomer led the Lions (4-3, 1-1 SSC) offensively with 23 points on 6-of-10 shooting including a 6-of-9 mark from downtown. The Glasgow, Ky. native added five points at the free throw line, missing just one free throw on the night (5-6).
 
Francis Sio turned in a great performance on the night where he found his mark going for 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. The Charlotte, N.C. native made three three-pointers and tallied five points from the free throw line.
 
Cantia Rahming rounded out the Green and Gold players in double-figures where he added 14 points for the Lions off the bench with nine rebounds to lead the team on the glass, four offensively and five defensively.
 
Gianfranco Grafals was the top Triton (1-5, 0-2 SSC) in scoring with 23 points while Joshua Galloway added 14.
 
After a quick back-and-forth first six minutes, which saw the game head to a 10-10 tie, Eckerd saw Daniel Love drain a three to put the Tritons up 13-10 where Eckerd held no less than a two-possession lead heading into the break leading 38-30.
 
Saint Leo came out of the break and battled back to tie things up at 55-55 with 9:06 on the clock. The Lions would string together an important 14-0 run to claim a 63-55 lead with just four and a half minutes to go. In the run that gave the Green and Gold the lead, Francis Sio and Wade Coomer each had five points while Luke Haasl had two with a dunk and Jared Coomer with a pair of free throws.
 
Eckerd would cut the deficit to just a single jumper, 65-63, with 26-ticks left but three free throws by the Lions, one from Sio and two from Cantia Rahming, helped keep the Green and Gold out in front. Eckerd's Gianfranco Grafals would hit a three with one second on the clock to bring the game to its final, 68-66 score in favor of Saint Leo.
 
Up Next
Saint Leo will return home to host Embry-Riddle on Saturday, Dec. 4 at 4 p.m. inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
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.