Matt Hewitt, Staff Writer
The Saint Leo Lions Men’s and Women’s basketball teams opened up their seasons on Friday, November 11, and both came away with impressive wins. The women’s team started the night off with a 5 o’clock tip off time. In the first of two head coaching debuts, Nikki Jesse and her team were able to defeat the visiting West Florida Argonauts by a score of 63-56.
The lady Lions fell behind a few minutes into the first half, and trailed by as much as 7 points with about 4 minutes remaining. The two teams fought back and forth until a last second three pointer from Asia Wilson gave the Lions a one point lead going into the break. During the second half, Saint Leo made high percentage shots to gain and keep the lead. After going up by 7 points early in the half, the Lions never looked back and finished the Argonauts off, eventually beating them by the same margin.Saint Leo was led in scoring by sophomore Chelsea Williams, who posted 15 points. Shalisa Hill led the team in rebounds and assists, with 12 and 6, respectively.
The Men’s team, led by the head coaching debut of Lance Randall, defeated the Southeastern University Fire (NAIA) by a score of 64-53. The Fire came into Friday’s contest with a record of 4-0, but were no match for the Lions, who featured a brand new starting five, with only three returners on the roster. Saint Leo jumped out to an early lead to start the game, going up on the visiting Southeastern Fire by as much as nine in the first half. However, the Fire concluded the first half by going on a 17-6 run and taking a 5 point lead. The Lions came out of the locker-room ready to play and quickly erased the deficit. With clutch and efficient shooting (51.1% from the field and 46.2% from the three point line), Saint Leo took a lead of as much as 14 points during the second half, finishing the game up with an eleven point lead. “The second half we took a step forward to establishing an identity as a team,” said Randall.
It was Trent Thomas, who came off the bench to lead the Lions in scoring with 19 points, going 2-2 from behind the arc. Marcus Ruh was second in scoring with 15 points, and Tom Neary added 14 of his own. On the defensive side of the ball, Shaun Adams nabbed 11 rebounds and added one block.
After two Lion wins, both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams are looking forward to a successful 2011-2012 season.
