TAMPA, Fla. – Santa Fe College Men's Basketball came away with a narrow 84-82 win at Hillsborough, the Saints first road test of the season.

The Saints executed well offensively in the second half to erase a halftime deficit, improving to 2-0 in the nonconference slate. Here's how it played out in Tampa…

First Half – HCC 40, SF 33

The Saints trailed 6-4 in the early going before beginning a 10-2 run to move ahead. All of the baskets during that stretch came from the paint to put SF in front, 14-8.

The lead switched hands again with a 9-2 spurt from the Hawks, bringing the score to 17-16.

After two baskets inside from Kordell Brown and Nikolaos Noumeros, 13 consecutive points poured in for HCC, and the hosts established a double-digit, 30-20 advantage with just under 7:30 to play.

The final minutes saw drastic turns in momentum. SF regained the lead, 33-32, with a 13-2 run capped off by a three-pointer from Leonardo Da Campo.

The Hawks concluded the half, however, with the final eight points to go into the break with the seven-point lead.

Second Half – SF 84, HCC 82

The Saints started to shoot the ball much better in half two, but HCC still held a nine-point lead, 53-44, with 13:40 on the clock.

Nearing the half's midway point, SF took the lead once again and went on an impressive 21-4 run. Bradley Douglas' steal and dunk handed the Saints a 65-57 advantage, forcing a timeout from HCC.

The Hawks began to chip away into the deficit, however, and the lead switched hands once again, 68-67, after a basket and the foul in transition with just 5:52 on the clock.

It came down to the wire in the final minutes, as each team continued to answer one another on the offensive end. SF trailed 79-75 with 1:51 on the clock, and that is when the Saints started to feed Hasan Abdul-Hakim.

The 6'7" guard produced the Saints final nine points down the stretch, including the go-ahead bucket and the foul with just 6.3 ticks left on the clock, putting the Saints ahead 84-82.

SF picked up full court defensively to try and keep Hillsborough from finding a good look at the basket, and a last second three-point heave from former Saint, Japhet Medor, caromed off the back rim to hand the Saints win No. 2.

Key Statistics

Four Saints notched double-figure scoring, led by 23 from Abdul-Hakim, who also grabbed ten rebounds.

McClain matched his career-high with 14 points, on both occasions coming against Hillsborough. Douglas added 14 points and seven assists, while Da Campo had 11 points and seven rebounds.

SF forced 20 Hillsborough turnovers, 14 of which came via the steal.

A Moment with Mowry

"I am happy our guys found a way to win! We did a good job keeping our composure after losing the lead late. Hasan did a nice job on our baseline out of bounds play in the final seconds, and we did a great job defending full court on the last play…We really struggled defensively, and HCC really played well tonight. We have a lot of areas to improve on, starting tomorrow."

Up Next

Santa Fe (2-0. 0-0 Central) will return home to tipoff with No. 3 Florida Southwestern on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 2:00 p.m.