GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Central Conference leader No. 12 Daytona State was able to win its seventh straight game, taking a 92-84 win inside the SF Gymnasium over SF men's basketball.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jalen Speer had the first basket of the game, but the Falcons went on a 12-2 run to go in front 12-4 at the 16:28 mark.

The Saints' deficit reached double-digits at 21-11, but SF began to chip away into it and swing the momentum in the game.

Trailing 35-29 with 6:49 left in the opening half, the Saints went on a 17-8 spurt to end the half and take a 46-43 lead. Speer had a triple and Kordell Brown had a tip-in at the buzzer for the final five points of the half.

The Saints went 11-of-11 from the line in the first half, and were led by 15 points from Speer and 13 from Brown.

No. 12 Daytona State came out firing on all cylinders, however, quickly regaining the lead.

The Falcons led 63-59 with 13:50 on the clock after a Cole Deptula triple and proceeded to rattle off nine unanswered points to push the lead right back to double-digits.

SF was able to weather the storm and get to within six points after a Giovanni Baerga-Uselis three-pointer made it 78-72 with a little over five minutes remaining, but that would prove to be as close as the Saints would come down the stretch.

KEY STATISTICS

Daytona State held a 52-31 lead in the rebounding category. 16 of the rebounds came on the offensive end to create second-chance opportunities.

The Falcons had 64 points in the paint compared to 44 for the Saints…

SF went a perfect 16-of-16 from the free-throw line, but Daytona State was more efficient from the field (50 percent) compared to Santa Fe's 42.5 percent shooting night.

Nic McClain was the game's leading scorer with 24 points, and Breylin Garcia had 22 points and 14 rebounds.

For SF, Brown finished with 23 points, three blocks, and three steals. Nasir Mann had 21, and Speer had 16. Nikolaos Noumeros finished with five points, six assists, and 11 rebounds.  

UP NEXT

The Saints (13-11, 5-5 Central) will head to FSCJ (6-17, 2-8 Central) on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. tipoff.