TAMPA, Fla. – The Saint Leo University Men's basketball team experienced a determined University of Tampa team Wednesday night that included monster games from UT's Mykah Brown (26 points) and Tyson Leitao (21 points, 13 boards), but the Lions persevered down to the final seconds and took advantage of the Spartans' second-half foul trouble to come away with a 77-72 win at the Bob Martinez Athletic Center.
 
The slim win secured a Saint Leo (18-8, 9-6 SSC) sweep over Tampa (7-14, 6-9 SSC) for the first time since the 2019-20 season.  The Green & Gold were outshot by the Red & Black, as the Lions hit 47.4% from the field compared to the Spartans' 50%.  Once again, Saint Leo displayed good ball control, only turning over the ball six times throughout the contest.
 
Guard Kanon Koster led the Lions with 21 points on the night, as Fifth-year forward Marty Jackson fell one board shy of a double-double (15 points).  Freshman guard Owen Pawlikowski saw limited shots, but the Combined Locks, Wis. native made the best of his chances, shooting 5-for-7 from the floor including 3-for-5 from beyond the arch.
 
After both teams exchanged buckets to start the contest, Tampa built a lead as large as six (19-13) before Saint Leo found a way to even the score.  Koster made three go-ahead buckets in the waning part of the first half before Freshman guard Logan Ryan hit a key three-pointer to give the Lions a 37-31 with just over two minutes remaining.  The Spartans answered and tied the game with the half's final six points as both teams headed to the locker room in a deadlocked 37-37 tie.
 
Both teams exchanged eight points apiece to keep the game tied 45-45 before the Lions took on its first scoring spree, outscoring the Spartans 17-5 in a seven-minute span to hold a 62-50 lead at the 9:25 mark.
 
With a 12-pt. lead, however, the Lions did not have a secure win, as the Spartans fought their way and retake the lead 69-67 with 3:33 left.  Following a good three-pointer from Pawlikowski on the ensuing possession, a Leitao foul sent Jackson to the line to make it a 72-69 game.  The Red & Black cut the difference to one (72-71) before Ryan hit another critical late-half three-pointer to make it a two-possession lead with 1:18 remaining.
 
A Saint Leo foul in the final minute gave Tampa a chance to make it a one-possession game again before Leitao went 1-for-2 on the free-throw set to make it 75-72.
 
Following Koster's missed one-and-one, the Spartans had a chance to score an equalizing basket before UT's Jacob Harris missed the three-pointer, giving way to two more free throws on the next Lions' possession from Koster, as the Kearney, Neb. native iced the game with two made free throws for the 77-72 win.
 
"We took some strong punches from Tampa tonight and we answered back with some big punches of our own" said Head Coach Lance Randall.  "Kanon carried us through that first half.  Owen and Grant Disken hit some clutch threes and Logan's 3 was a game-winner."
 
Randall continued "Marty is an elite competitor and despite not having his best offense again, he came through with some big time buckets when we needed them inside that last media timeout.  We got stops when we needed them.  This team has some guts; that's a huge midweek rivalry win."
 
Saint Leo will have its hands full Saturday as the team hosts #2/#1 Nova Southeastern; tipoff at the Marion Bowman Activities Center is slated for 6 p.m.
 
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