By: William Burns, Sports Editor
On Wednesday night, in the Marian Bowman Activities Center at Saint Leo University, the Lions of Saint Leo brought the Eagles of Embry-Riddle back down to earth. Embry-Riddle came into the game with the highest scoring offense in the Sunshine State Conference, averaging 99.1 points per game. Fortunately, enough for the crowd in attendance, the Lions had no intention of letting this high-octane offense run free on their home court.
Saint Leo ratcheted up the pressure on defense and forced the Eagles into some very sloppy play. The Lions defense forced Embry-Riddle into 20 turnovers, while protecting the rock and playing smart ball on offense. The Lions squad committed only nine turnovers.
The Lions jumped out to a sizeable lead in the first half. At the break, the Lions were leading by a score of 48-29, and had a nice lead to work with. However, the Eagles didn’t roll over. They came out hot and put their offense on display in the second half, completely turning the ball game around. The Eagles ended up making the game close, as they outscored the Lions 56-44, but fell short as they lost the game 92-85.
The Lions were fueled by stellar shooting from downtown, as they went 12-28, or .429% from behind the three-point line. Kyran McClure led the Lions offense with a 20-point performance, including five three pointers. Following closely came Isaiah Hill with 19 points, and then Rusty Moorer with 18 points. Gintaras Bartaskas also had a notale night, hitting all of shots including three from behind the arc, and going four for four from the free throw line.
The Lions improved to 11-5 on the season, and play at home again on Saturday, January 18th at 7:30PM. Come out and support your Lions as they battle against Barry!
