Saints take game one of FCSAA Shootout, 83-51 over ASA-Miami
After trailing for the first 10 minutes of the game, the Santa Fe Saints finally got clicking offensively on the way to an 83-51 win over ASA-Miami in the first game on day one of the Florida College System Men's Basketball Shootout at SF Saturday. "They came ready to play and we got off to a slow start," said SF Head Coach Chris Mowry. "We played well defensively and I felt that if we kept working hard to get good shots at the basket, then we would be okay. Eventually that is what happened."
A basket from the paint by Admir Besovic in the closing seconds of the first half gave the Saints a nine-point advantage at the break at 37-28. The Saints (9-4) stretched the lead to 18 at 51-33 when Miles Coleman scored with 16 minutes to play in the game, but the Silver Storm (3-10) went on an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to single digits at 51-44. A 3-pointer by Ryan Leonard got the Saints on a run of their own as they outscored ASA 32-7 the rest of the way for the final margin.
"We were really good defensively most of the day," said Mowry. "Other than a few too many turnovers I felt we played a nice game."
Leonard led the Saints with 20 points while Besovic scored 12 to go with nine rebounds and Isaiah Islam scored 10.
"We got some good contributions off the bench today," said Mowry. "Maybe this will help us get our confidence back offensively and we can start putting everything together."
The Saints will face St. Petersburg at 1 pm on Sunday as the FCSAA Shootout continues at both Santa Fe College in Gainesville and the College of Central Florida in Ocala.
For complete schedules of all games visit santafesaints.com.