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Saint Leo's Offense Heats Up After Slow Start

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By BART O'CONNELL, Tribune correspondent

Published: November 19, 2007

ST. LEO - The much-improved offense that Saint Leo men's basketball coach Mike Madagan has been talking about finally made its debut Saturday at the Bowman Center, and it sure did look different than years past.

The Lions' up-tempo attack overwhelmed Puerto Rico-Bayamon in the second half, overcoming a sluggish first 20 minutes to win 104-71. The points were more than Saint Leo (1-0) scored in any game last season.

"We've got a lot of good scorers," said guard Dusty Driggs, who scored 19 points in his first game as a Lion. "If everybody finds their role and gets rolling, I think the sky's the limit."

Jordan Prais had 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyle Rowland finished with 16 points, and guard Anthony Gomez came off the bench to score 15.

Despite such a dominant win, shooting 56.7 percent, Madagan wasn't entirely pleased with how things went. He wanted to see Saint Leo run more plays in the halfcourt, but instead, most of the buckets came out of transition.

"We want to run, we want to play fast. We shot a good percentage, we scored a lot of points, but it didn't come out of execution," he said. "You go play Tampa, you go play Lynn, they're going to guard you. We didn't necessarily work on those things."

Point guard Quentin Cullop was in early foul trouble, and the Lions struggled to rebound the ball early, and momentarily lost the lead after beginning the game on an 11-0 run. But when Cullop returned for the second half, Saint Leo returned to form, outscoring the Vaqueros 60-30 in the last 20 minutes.

"He's our motor," Madagan said of Cullop. "The positive was, Anthony Gomez came in and got minutes. There's going to be nights when Quentin has foul trouble. The other big difference is, the ball really flows, really moves when Quentin's in there."
Driggs continued his hot shooting to begin the season. After making 13 3-pointers in two exhibition games, the junior connected on 5-for-11 Saturday from behind the arc. The sharpshooter has been even more accurate in practice.

"I'm kind of mad he's only five of 11," Madagan joked.

"We've still got a lot to work on," Driggs said, "but I think it's a good start for us."

POWELL OUT: Sophomore guard Brandon Powell is out at least six weeks with a right ankle injury suffered Wednesday in practice. Powell fell awkwardly while attempting a layup, and his foot was bent sideways and the ankle dislodged.

Amazingly, Powell banged it back in place moments after it happened, which could have caused major ligament damage. But after going to the emergency room, doctors found nothing severed or broken and it appeared like a basic sprain on X-rays.

"It went back in when he banged it on the floor - about as gruesome as we can say it," Madagan said. "I've seen guys get hurt and the other guys grimace and turn away, but I've never seen guys turn and run away."

Bart O'Connell can be

reached at boconnell@

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: Saint Leo men's and women's basketball vs. Puerto Rico-Cayey

WHEN: Women at 5:30 p.m., men at 7:30

WHERE: Marion Bowman Activities Center, St. Leo

NEED TO KNOW: A win tonight would give the women (2-0) half as many victories as they had in all of 2006-07. Coach Chanita Olds has been experimenting with different lineups in the first two games, using 14 different players Saturday against UPR-Bayamon. ... The men (1-0) hope to continue their hot shooting to start the year, hitting almost 57 percent against the Vaqueros on Saturday. ... Both teams have a week off after tonight, to prepare for NAIA foe Southeastern.

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