TAMPA, Fla. – Santa Fe men's basketball traveled to Hillsborough Community College for a midweek conference matchup, suffering an 81-62 loss to the Hawks. 

First Half – HCC 30, SFC 25

It was a relatively slow start for both teams, as the Saints and the Hawks exchanged misses for the first few minutes of the game.

As he did in the Saints previous game, Leonardo Da Campo scored the team's first points. The game then went back and forth before the Eagles went on an 8-0 run, jumping out to 14-6 lead.

That run prompted Head Coach Chris Mowry to call a timeout. Coach Mowry sent a completely new five back to the floor after the timeout. The Hawks strung together another eight unanswered points before Jovan Jovanovic ended the run with a bucket. The basket from Jovanovic started a 17-8 run for the Saints to close out the half, cutting the Hawks' lead to just five, 30-25. 

Second Half – HCC 81, SFC 62

The second half started out with a few baskets by the Hawks before the Saints got a huge spark from Nicolas McClain.

The Saints hit four three-pointers, cutting the lead to one, 41-40. The Saints got triples from Bradley Douglas, DJ Henderson and McClain.

That was as close as the Saints would get, however. The Hawks ended the Saints run and went back up 46-40.

Despite getting in the bonus with over 12 minutes left in the contest, the Saints could not get stops when they needed them.

Although the Saints trimmed their deficit to three, the Hawks were able to withstand the rally and eventually pulled away late for the 81-62 victory. 

Key Statistics

The Saints had three players with double-digit points, with McClain leading the way with a season-high 14. Yaw Obeng-Mensah contributed with 12, and Douglas had 10.

A Moment with Mowry

"We got off to a really slow start, trailing 22-6. Our bench did a great job getting us back in the game by halftime. Nicolas McClain had his best game for us tonight. The second half we were better offensively, but our defense really dropped off. We cut the lead to thee or four several times but couldn't get over the hump. We come back to Hillsborough on Saturday."

Up Next

The Saints will travel back to Hillsborough Community College on Saturday, March 13 at 4:00 p.m.