It was a closely played game with 14 lead changes and eight ties, but in the end the College of Central Florida Patriots held off the Santa Fe Saints to earn an 80-75 win.

"It was a great effort and a good college basketball game, but we made a few mistakes at critical times and couldn't come away with a win," said SF Head Coach Chris Mowry.

Ivan Smith hit a pair of 3-pointers to give the Santa Fe a 37-35 lead at the half and the Saints would go up by seven with eight minutes to play, but the Patriots (15-7, 4-0 MFC) would not be denied.  The Saints (12-8, 1-2 MFC) cut an eight-point deficit to three with 50 seconds to play, but CF got a key offensive rebound and put back to seal the win.

Brady Fernandes led the Saints with 18 points while Smith scored 17 and Admir Besovic 10.

The Saints will host Eastern Florida State College at the SF gymnasium on Saturday with the tip off scheduled for 2 pm.

For all SF Athletics schedules, stats and more visit santafesaints.com.