SAINT LEO, Fla. – After a long 351-day wait, the men's basketball team was the first Saint Leo University intercollegiate program to get back into competitive action, hosting the Tampa Spartans Wednesday night in the season opener and the first Sunshine State Conference men's basketball matchup of the season. Saint Leo came up just short, 79-75, but saw four players score in double digits led by the Coomer brothers, Jared (18) and Wade (14), and Rusty Moorer (12).

"Quite honestly, it felt great to compete." Head Coach Lance Randall commented after the game. "I loved the way we battled. It looked like the first game for us, we had turned the ball over too much and took some unnecessarily difficult shots. The end of the first half was brutal. At times it looked like we gave up ball screen defense for lent." 

Randall continued, "Tampa was aggressive and took advantage of some miscommunication issues. We handled their physical play better in the second half. We played four freshmen and a sophomore double-figure minutes. I thought we got some very good minutes out of our freshmen. Jared Coomer and Frank Webb Jr. dictated on both sides of the ball. Wade Coomer stayed with his shot and got some big buckets for us in the second half. In the end, giving up 22 points off of turnovers will not win you many games. Disappointing to lose, but we took a good first step tonight and it was exciting to see the potential this group has."
 
In total, nine players each found the net for points in the setback, where five new players entered the game and scored their first points in the Green and Gold. Frank Webb Jr. paced the newcomers with 11, with Cantia Rahming, adding seven, Luke Haasl, five, and Grant Disken and Chase Villers with three apiece.
 
To go along with his 11 points, Webb snagged 10 boards to complete his first double-double in the Lions jersey.
 
Both teams pulled in 39 rebounds on the night while the Green and Gold held the edge in sharing the ball, 15-14.
 
In the first action either team has seen outside of practice, the start of the contest was tight, a 5-2 game through the first four minutes. After 10 minutes of action, Tampa would hold a minor lead, 17-10. The Lions rallied and cut the deficit to just a single point, 22-21, on an 8-0 run with a three from Wade Coomer and five points from Rusty Moorer. The Spartans would close the half outscoring the Green and Gold 19-9 and take a 41-30 advantage into the break.
 
After going down by 15, a quick burst of energy pushed the Lions to within six, after a Cantia Rahming and-one dunk with 16 minutes to play, 47-41. A quick 7-0 run by the Spartans made it 57-41 before Luke Haasl sank a three to bring it back to 10 points with 13:13 to go. Hanging within striking distance, the Lions cut the gap to just five points, 61-56, on an and-one play by Frank Webb Jr. and a three by Grant Disken with just under 10 minutes to play. Tampa would push their lead to 10, 69-59 with five minutes to play, but lockdown defense and a Wade Coomer scoring burst helped Saint Leo cut it to 71-67 with 3:05 to go after Coomer's seven-point swing.  
 
Heading down the wire, both teams would score eight points in the final three minutes of the contest as the Lions were within five with 1:22 to go on a Rusty Moorer three. Wade Coomer would nail another quick three and Cantia Rahming hit a jumper to close out the scoring for the season opener; Tampa 79, Saint Leo 75. The Lions outscored the Spartans 45-38 in the second half but came up just shy in the end.
 
Saint Leo will be back in action Saturday, Feb. 20 as the Green and Gold hit the road with a trip to Melbourne, Fla. to take on Florida Tech at 2 p.m.
 
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