Out of 38 teams in the South Region, the Saint Leo Lions finished the regular season ranked in the top eight, earning a spot in the NCAA Division 2 National Championship tournament. This is the team’s first appearance in the tournament since the 2013-2014 season.
With a record of 19-11, and without winning their conference tournament, the Lions were a long-shot to make the tournament, but the selection committee saw enough quality wins that the team made it in as the eighth seed. This gives them a tough climb, as there has only been one eight seed to beat a one seed since 2009. This is not an impossible task however, as the Lions will play against host Alabama-Huntsville, a team they defeated earlier in the season.
Head Coach Vince Alexander was not worried about their challenge either.
“We’re not concerned about being an 8 seed. We’re a team that’s earned the right to be in the NCAA tournament, and that’s just the way we look at it. We’re an NCAA tournament team, we’re going in and we’re preparing to play and be the best team that we can possibly be,” said Coach Alexander.
It will be interesting to see how the Lions do in their second game against the Chargers, and while they always expect to do well, the team is always looking to improve.
“We gotta rebound better. It might help if we get John (Johnathan Childs) back. 6’ 10″ sophomore that sat out the last 4-5 games. It would be nice to have him back. Rebounding has been an Achilles’s for us, so hopefully we will be able to get better in that area in the next week, and win some games,” said Coach Alexander.
Offense should not be a problem for the team though. The Lions have a potent three headed monster in Junior Marcus Dewberry, Sophomore Caleb Stewart and Sophomore Tyreece Brice.
With those players averaging 20, 15.1 and 15 points per game respectively, they are a tough trio to deal with. Brice in particular is dangerous, shooting over 50 percent from the field.
“Those three guys all do a good job for us and we definitely need those three to play well in order for us to be successful, and God willing they’ll continue to do that,” said Coach Alexander.
This is the first season under Coach Alexander, and following a losing season, expectations were not high. It was a popular opinion that it would take the accomplished coach a year or two to bring the team back to its winning ways, and so it was surprising to see it get done immediately; to everyone except the team.
“I came in this hoping to win right away and get this thing turned around, but I don’t think the expectations were there, to accomplish what we’ve accomplished. Probably we were the only ones that expected to be in this position, and that’s because we’re gonna try to compete in every game we play, and every situation whether it’s practice, shoot around or whatever it is. So I think our guys have adopted that personality and attitude, and I think it has paid great dividends for us,” said Coach Alexander.
Saint Leo will look to take that mentality to Alabama on Saturday, March 12 when they begin their postseason push for a national championship.
