GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe men's basketball took to its home floor for the first time since Nov. 19 and was able to spread the wealth in a 91-65 victory over Fairmont Academy.

The Saints were able to rest some players and provide opportunities throughout the roster in the win, improving to 6-3.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The score was tied at 11-11 when SF started an 11-0 run, doubling up Fairmont at 22-11 after an Eli Taylor deuce as the clock neared 12 minutes to play in the first half.

The first half lead was at its largest at the horn, 43-24. Fairmont shot just 24.2 percent from the floor in the first frame, while SF went 16-of-30, finding 16 points in the paint.

Eight different players had already scored for SF, led by Giovanni Baerga-Uselis and Nigel Martin with nine apiece.

Fairmont trailed 46-30 early in the second half when the Saints kickstarted another spurt, this time with nine unanswered points to open up a 55-30 advantage following a triple from Barga-Uselis.

SF continued to rotate its lineups and were never troubled the rest of the way, with Cole Deptula's long ball creating the largest gap of the game, 91-65, at the final whistle.

STATISTICS

SF held a 50-40 edge in the rebounding category, and shot 49.3 percent as compared to Fairmont's 30 percent performance.

40 of Santa Fe's 91 points came from the point, while SF only allowed Fairmont to produce eight points from in close…

The Saints took care of the ball and set a new season-low with nine turnovers, all the while passing out 22 assists.

Martin set a new season-high with 18 points, while Baerga-Uselis matched his career-high with 18 as well.

Two newcomers in Makye Boles and Tom Di Maria put in 12 points, with Boles going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field to go along with four blocks.

Deptula's nine points all came from beyond the arc. Darrien Jones dished out a career-high ten assists from his point guard position, routinely finding players up ahead for transition points. Among other highlights, Macius Trowe nearly had his first double-double, setting season-highs with eight points and a game-high ten rebounds.

UP NEXT

SF heads to the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Shootout, as hosted by Daytona State College on Saturday, Dec. 10 and Sunday, Dec. 11. The Saints will matchup with No. 22 Northwest Florida State College on Saturday for a 5:00 p.m. tipoff, then play Hillsborough on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.