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Lions Lose In Men's Tournament Opener

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By BART O'CONNELL

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 7, 2009

An up-and-down season for the Saint Leo men's basketball team ended on perhaps the most disappointing note Wednesday, a 71-47 loss to No. 2 seed Rollins in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament at Winter Park.

The Lions (15-16), which entered the tournament as the No. 7 seed, never led and shot only 35 percent from the floor, compared to Rollins' 58 percent. Quentin Cullop led the Lions with 15 points, and Jordan Prais added 13.

The defeat brought an end to a tumultuous season for Saint Leo. It started 3-0, and then lost four consecutive non-conference games. After opening the SSC schedule with an overtime win at Barry, SLU then lost its next four games, before winning five of its next six in-conference games to have a chance at the No. 3 seed in the tournament.

But when the Lions lost 83-66 at Nova Southeastern, followed by an overtime loss at last-place Eckerd, they sunk back into the bottom half of the standings and were forced to play in the tournament opening round against one of the two teams they failed to beat in SSC play.

It was the last game for senior Kyle Rowland, who received a nice ovation on the Rollins' floor when he was taken out of the game for the final time with seven minutes to play. Rowland, SLU's all-time blocks leader, had seven points.

HIGH PRAIS: Two Saint Leo players, Cullop and Prais, were named All-SSC second team.
Prais averaged 16.6 points a game, good for fifth in the conference, and scored 10 or more in all but two Lions' games this season. This is the second consecutive year the junior forward was picked to the All-SSC second team, since being named Freshman of the Year in 2006-07.

Cullop averaged 15.3 points a game, seventh-best in the SSC, and had 123 assists in 28 games. Cullop also made more 3-pointers (77) than any other SSC player.

GREAT 28: The Saint Leo softball team set numerous offensive records in the highest scoring game in team history - a 28-0 rout of Salem International on Wednesday at University Field.

Perhaps the most remarkable statistic was the Lions' first inning: they scored 19 runs on 10 hits and three errors. In that inning alone, 22 batters came to the plate, SS Tatiana Casis hit two home runs, and Saint Leo drew eight walks.

Casis had three homers for the game, giving her 10 for the year. She also leads the squad with a .482 average and 33 RBIs.

The Lions (10-9) are riding a three-game win streak into this weekend's Francis Marion tournament in South Carolina, which began Friday. They are slated to play five games in three days against out-of-state competition.

BOUNCE BACK? The Lions baseball team (6-13, 1-2 SSC) has a three-game series at Eckerd (10-7) this weekend, trying to get an early lead on perennial frontrunners Tampa and Florida Southern, who open conference play next weekend.

Correspondent Bart O'Connell can be reached at

tampasport@gmail.com.

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