Gainesville, FL- On Saturday afternoon, the Santa Fe Saints traveled down south to face off against the Miami Dade Sharks.  This is the second matchup of the season between these two teams.  The Sharks won the first matchup over the Saints 74-62.  With a depleted Saints lineup, the Saints fought hard keeping the score close in the first half, but eventually were overwhelmed by the offensive strength of the Sharks.  The final score was 75-51 (Sharks).

How It Happened

The Sharks jumped out to a 6-0 lead until Jonathan Renois scored layup in the lane.  With the Sharks ahead 6-2 both teams began to exchange baskets.  After the Sharks made a three-point basket, Kevin Pazmino responded by hitting a triple of his own.  Derrick Harvey then made a two-point basket putting the score at 12-8 helping the Saints to cut into the Shark's lead.

With 3:00 remaining in the half the score was 23-12.  The Saints picked up the pace on offense and defense to end the half including with a couple of steals by Ashton Lovette leading to burst of offense production with two layup baskets from Johnathan Renois and a triple from Josh Watkins.  The score going into halftime was 31-22.

The Saints had first possession starting the second half.  Right away Kevin Pazmino made a three-point basket.  The Sharks quickly responded by making a three-point basket of their own.  As Renois sliced through the lane and successfully layed the ball in he was fouled.  He completed the three-point play from the stripe. 

Ashton Lovette made a highly contested reverse layup in the lane to keep the Sharks lead under ten points (37-30, Sharks).  The Sharks then went on a 6-0 run until Kevin Pazmino was fouled on a three-point attempt.  He made all three free throws from the stripe.  This was shortly followed by a slam dunk from Harvey Wilson.  After another three-pointer from Kevin Pazmino, the Sharks begin to step things up on offense by hitting a series of three-pointers.  They also began to crash the boards using their length to get more offensive rebounds that led to more second chance shots in the paint. 

By the 8:00 mark the Sharks had increased their lead to eighteen points (58-40).  Ashton Lovette drove through the lane and contorting his body to make another contested layup at the rim (58-44).  EJ Rolle came off the bench to score a mid-range jumper to help to cut down the lead for the Saints.  However, the sharp shooting of the Sharks would eventually be too much for the Saints to overcome.  Miami wins 75-51.

Up Next

The Saints will play in their last game of the season at home against Indian River State College (23-5) on Monday.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7PM.