SAINT LEO, Fla. – After an abbreviated season, the Sunshine State Conference had a blind draw in which the Saint Leo men's basketball team was picked as the second seed in the conference tournament and will host throughout the tournament with a win in their matchup.
 
The Lions (4-1) will start off the tournament hosting the seventh-seed Barry (2-4) at 5 p.m. inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
2021 SSC Tournament
The opening round of the Sunshine State Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by S3 Design will tip-off on Tuesday, March 16th. All games throughout the tournament will be hosted on campus sites and broadcasted by member institutions on the SSC Digital Network.
 
Seeds for the 2021 season were drawn at random. Palm Beach Atlantic University receives the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the postseason tournament. Saint Leo University (No. 2), Florida Tech (No. 3), and Florida Southern College (No. 4) will host a quarterfinal game in the 2021 championship. Rollins College (No. 5), the University of Tampa (No. 6), and Barry University (No. 7) round out this year's tournament field.
 
March 3, 2021 – Saint Leo 93, Barry 73
After a close first half, in favor of the Bucs 42-39, Saint Leo turned it on in the second half to dominate 54-31 in the second half for a 93-73 win.
 
Saint Leo came out of the gate hot with a quick 11-0 run before Barry battled back to tighten up things and take a lead at the break. Another strong showing at the start of the second half allowed for the Lions to build to a 12-point lead. Barry cut it to within seven, 78-71, before Saint Leo pressure allowed for quick turnovers and buckets to push to the 93-73 final.
 
Frank Webb Jr. led all scorers with 25 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists to his stat line. Cantia Rahming posted a double-double in the win with 19 points and 15 rebounds as Rusty Moorer rounded out the double-figure scorers for Saint Leo with 18 points.
 
Jake Kakar paced the Bucs with 24 points while Toru Dean and Justinas Marcinkevic added 15 and 14 points, respectively.
 
2021 Season
After dropping the first game of the season 79-75 to Tampa, the Lions strung together four wins to post a 4-1 record with a 67-54 win over Tampa, in the same week they suffered the four-point loss, followed by a 79-71 win over Florida Southern, 99-75 win at Palm Beach Atlantic, and a 93-73 win over Barry.
 
Frank Webb Jr. leads the team in scoring on the season with 15.4 points per game while Cantia Rahming is just behind at 15.0. Rusty Moorer and Jared Coomer join the Webb-Rahming duo in double-digits at 14.2 and 12.4, respectively. Rahming is just shy of averaging a double-double with a team-best 9.4 rebounds per game.
 
Saint Leo Tournament History
The Lions will look to make it 15 wins in the SSC tournament and look to crack the finals game and earn their first Sunshine State Conference tournament title, having been runners-up twice before, 1986 and 2012. The last matchup between the Bucs and Lions in the SSC tournament came in 2015 during the quarterfinals as the Bucs won 71-57. Barry holds a 2-1 series record against Saint Leo in the tournament.

Saint Leo reached the SSC tournament a year ago and has advanced to the conference tournament each year under the direction of head coach Lance Randall, and is the fifth time the Green and Gold carry a winning record into the first matchup. This will be the second time in seven years the Lions are the no. 2 seed in the tournament and will make a run for the championship crown. 
 
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.
 
How to Watch
Lions fans are able to watch the game and follow live stats via the Sunshine State Conference Digital Network where the Green and Gold's home games will be streamed and carry live statistics. For viewing any of the Green and Gold's contests against conference opponents, go to sunshinestateconference.tv or directly to the Lions' portal HERE. For following along with the live stats, fans can view them HERE. For more coverage of the Saint Leo softball program or any of the University's intercollegiate events, go to saintleolions.com/coverage.

Keeping Our Lions Healthy & Safe
Saint Leo University Athletics is keeping our student-athletes healthy and safe by following a number of measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes having student-athletes tested or screened on a regular basis, traveling in smaller groups, holding competitions without fans in attendance, avoiding overnight trips, and wearing masks when not competing. These safety standards meet those set by the NCAA Division II and the Sunshine State Conference President's Council. At Saint Leo University, the COVID-19 Incident Command Team also reviews the teams' safety protocol and monitors adherence on a regular basis.