SAINT LEO, Fla. – For the third time in program history, Saint Leo University will play for the Sunshine State Conference Tournament Championship, presented by S3 Design. The Lions are set to face familiar foe Florida Southern College in the 2021 title game. 
 
The final, set for March 21 at 4 p.m., will be hosted in the Marion Bowman Activities Center for a showdown between the hosts, Saint Leo Lions, the no. 2 seed in this year's tournament, and the visiting Florida Southern Moccasins, the fourth seed.
 
2021 SSC Tournament
Playing for its first SSC Tournament title, Saint Leo (6-1) started the tournament off with a 67-58 win over Barry Tuesday night before posting a 78-68 win over Florida Tech Thursday.
 
Florida Southern (7-4) turned it on in the semifinals after an 88-82 win over Rollins in the quarterfinals. The Moccasins burned overall-top seed Palm Beach Atlantic 104-86 Thursday.
 
Advancing out of the semifinals of the Sunshine State Conference Men's Basketball Championship presented by S3 Design were Saint Leo (no. 2 seed, def. no. 4 Florida Tech 78-68) and Florida Southern (no. 4 seed, def. no. 1 PBA 104-86).
 
In the quarterfinals of the tournament, Saint Leo defeated no. 7 Barry 67-58, no. 3 Florida Tech defeated no. 6 Tampa 90-84 in 2 OT, and no. 4 Florida Southern defeated no. 5 Rollins 88-82.
 
Head-to-Head
Saint Leo and Florida Southern will face off for the second time this season, with the Lions the victors in game one, 79-71 on Feb. 24 in the Marion Bowman Activities Center.
 
In the first meeting of the season, Canita Rahming posted a double-double, 20 points/11 rebounds, to lead the Green and Gold past the Mocs. Three other Lions were in double-figures in Jared Coomer (18 points), Frank Webb Jr. (13 points), and Grant Disken (13 points).
 
Florida Southern saw four players as well in double-digits led by Xavier Rhodes and E.J. Dambreville with 16 points apiece.
 
While facing off in the Marion Bowman Activities Center, Saint Leo holds a slight 9-7 advantage.
 
Saint Leo averages 79.7 points per game and holds opponents to 68.3 while Florida Southern averages 85.4 and holds its opponents to 81.6.
 
Tournament Meetings
In tournament play, the two teams have met 10 times with the Mocs holding an 8-2 lead but the last two meetings decided by three points or less. In the Finals matchup, Florida Southern has topped Saint Leo twice before, 1986 and 2012. The last meeting in the SSC tournament was in 2019 where Florida Southern knocked out Saint Leo in the quarterfinals 80-78 on a last second layup.
 
2021 Season – Saint Leo
After dropping the first game of the season 79-75 to Tampa, the Lions continue to find winning ways, sitting at 5-1. The Green and Gold posted 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, a 93-73 win over Barry, before the 67-58 win over the Bucs in the SSC quarterfinals.

Frank Webb Jr. leads the team in scoring at 13.9 points per game while Rusty Moorer is a close second at 13.0. Cantia Rahming, who is third on the team in scoring at 12.7 ppg, leads the team in rebounding with a slight edge over Webb Jr. 8.1 to 8.0, respectively. Webb Jr. remains the team leader in steals with 15 on the season.
 
Rahming holds the team best shooting percentage at .638 going 37-for-58 from the floor. Grant Disken, through seven games, has the team's best three-point percentage at .520 going 13-of-25, just one made three off the leader, Moorer's 14, and tied with Gintaras Bartaskas for second on the team.


2021 Season – Florida Southern
The Moccasins first six games were postponed before opening up the year with an 92-77 win over Palm Beach Atlantic on Feb. 20. Following another postponed contest, Florida Southern would drop back-to-back games, 98-83 to PBA and 79-71 to Saint Leo, before going 2-0 against Barry on Saturday-Monday games. The Mocs defeated the Bucs 104-87 on Feb. 27 before turning around and beating Barry 90-85 on March 1.
 
Florida Southern finished the regular season with a loss to Tampa (94-84, March 3), a loss to Florida Tech (79-75, March 10), a win over PBA (81-65, March 12), and a win over Barry (67-66, March 13).
 
In the SSC tournament, the Mocs opened up with an 88-82 win over the visiting No. 5 Rollins Tars, the Tars lone game of the season, before knocking off no. 1 seed PBA 104-86 on March 18.
 
Four players average double-digits for the Mocs led by Jalyn Hinton's 20.6 points per game. Hinton is second on the team to E.J. Dambreville in rebounding at 10.5 per game while Dambreville stands at 13.1 and is second in scoring at 17.1 ppg. Brandon Carroll (16.4) and Xavier Rhodes (14.5) round out the Mocs' quad double-digit scorers.
 


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.