SAINT LEO, Fla. – The Saint Leo Lions fell just short of upsetting Barry, who is ranked 15^th by the latest NABC Coaches poll, in a 98-84 decision Sunday evening inside the Marion Bowman Center. Despite being down key players due to safety precautions and protocols, Saint Leo gave Barry a battle to remember paced by Francis Sio. Sio earned a career-high and program's best offensive performance with 40 points going 13-for-21 (.619), 8-for-13 (.615) from the three-point range, and a flawless 6-for-6 at the free-throw line. Sio will go down in the history books as the last player to score near 40 points was Kyran McClure with 39 points against Valdosta State (11/29/19) followed by Marcus Dewberry with 37 points and Isaiah Hill who put together 35 points.
 
Sio's offensive efforts were helped by Grant Disken who scored 15 points going 5-for-10 from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the circle, and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Joining Sio and Disken in double figures was Cantia Rahming with 10 points going 4-for-8 from the court and 2-for-3 at the line. Luke Haasl lead the Green and Gold off the iron with nine rebounds followed by Rahming with eight and Frank Webb Jr. with seven.
 
Barry opened the first half on a 10-2 run to hand the Saint Leo an eight-point deficit. Three minutes later, Luke Haasl's three pointer leveled the scoreboard at 13 points apiece with 14 minutes left in the first half. The score would be tied three more times before the break and Barry would even slip away again to gain a seven-point lead at 22-15 off a bucket from downtown. The Lions rallied and cut the difference to a one-possession game. The surge came just at a time to flip the script and claim the halftime lead 44-43. Robert Fry II's crisp pass to Cantia Rahming, who was open under the basket, tallied the final one-point advantage.
 
10 minutes into the second half, Barry scored six straight points off a layup, three-pointer, and free throw to bring the game beyond a single possession; 73-66. At the 3:36 mark, the Bucs recorded a 10-point lead at 87-77 on their way to the eventual 14-point win, 98-84.
 
The Lions will return to action inside the Marion Bowman Activities Center on Wednesday, Jan. 5 to host Tampa at 7:30 p.m.  
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