SAINT LEO, Fla. – Freshman Cantia Rahming put on quite the show Wednesday night in men's basketball action on the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network. With no fans allowed in the arena due to CoVID protocols, Saint Leo topped Florida Southern 79-71 in front of 90 fan-cutouts. With the win, Saint Leo improved to 2-1 while Florida Southern 1-2 on the season. 

"Great win tonight." Head Coach Lance Randall stated after the game. "We took a big step forward with ball movement and ball toughness. We came out and executed early and really pounded the glass. We had a lull late in the second half and ended it poorly. In the second half we defended them well in some long stretches and were able to push things up. Once again, Frank Webb Jr. was a monster on both ends. Besides four steals, he held a 30-points per game scorer Brandon Carrol to an 0-5 night in 30 minutes."

Randall went on to say, "Jared Coomer and Cantia Rahming dominated the rim all night. These three have been incredibly consistent in all three games. Grant Disken busted out big tonight and played like he has been playing in practice. Those three's gave us some breathing room. It was a nice win and another game where I thought we were better than the latter."
 
Rahming posted his second straight double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win over the Moccasins. The Tampa, Fla. native paced the Green and Gold scoring where seven total players scored points on the night with four going for double-digits. Jared Coomer tallied 18 points for the Lions, which marked the second straight 18-point home performance for the sophomore. Senior Frank Webb Jr. and freshman Grant Disken each dropped 13 points.

The Lions attacked on defense picking the Mocs pocket 10 times and turned them into 14 points. Saint Leo put-back 19 points on the night in second chance points while Florida Southern scored just nine second chance points.

Jared Coomer laid in the first points of the game to give the Green and Gold an early advantage. After jumpers by Cantia Rahming and Rusty Moorer, the Lions saw an early 6-0 lead. Florida Southern would battle back to cut it to 9-8 with 15 minutes to play in the opening period. After a quick change of leads, the Lions reclaimed the lead 17-16 at the 11:39 mark on two J. Coomer free throws and would never trail in the rest of the contest. The Lions quickly answered and pushed their lead to nine, 25-16, before riding a 37-34 lead into the halftime break.
 
Saint Leo came out of the break fired up and ran out to a 45-36 lead before Florida Southern once again battled back to make it just a one-point game, 51-50 with 14:12 to go. The Lions used a 17-2 run to jump on the Mocs 68-52, capped by an old fashioned three-point play by Frank Webb Jr. A layup in the paint by the Mocs cut the game to just nine points but the Green and Gold returned it to double-digits on a quick Grant Disken three pointer, 73-61. The Lions held a double-figure lead for six minutes of the final 6:37 to take home the eight-point victory.
 
Up Next
Saint Leo will travel to West Palm Beach Saturday, Feb. 27 for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish.
 
To Get Your Face at the Game, Purchase a Fan Cutout at http://bit.ly/SLUMBBCUTOUTS
 
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