Men's basketball moves up standings

The Saint Leo men's basketball team surged back into contention in the Sunshine Athletic Conference race following a pair of victories this past week against Florida Tech and Tampa.

The Lions (11-10, 5-6 SSC) are now in sixth place in the league, with an opportunity to move even higher today against Rollins (14-7, 7-4), the third-place team.

Saint Leo's win last Saturday against Florida Tech, the then-top team in the league, classifies as the Lions' best outing yet under first-year coach Lance Randall.

The Lions pulled away in the second half to win 73-63, as four starters finished in double figures. Marcus Ruh had 18 points, hitting five of SLU's 11 3-pointers, while Shaun Adams added 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Dominick Robinson also was stellar, with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Three of Florida Tech's five starters fouled out, leading to an 18-11 SLU edge in free throws made.

The momentum from that victory carried over to Wednesday when the Lions completed a season sweep of the Spartans with a dominant 71-44 win. Saint Leo shot better than 50 percent as a team, and was again led by Ruh, who had 23 points, making 5-for-7 from long range. Robinson had 18 points.

Women's streak over

The women's basketball team notched its first SSC win of the season, beating Tampa 71-68 at the Bowman Center to avenge a 31-point defeat to the Spartans in their first meeting.

Chelsea Williams had 24 points and six rebounds to lead the way for SLU (7-14, 1-10), which out-shot and out-rebounded UT.

The victory also means Lions coach Nikki Jessee, who is married to UT coach Tom Jessee, will share bragging rights in their household.

A second-consecutive win will be tough for SLU, as they face top-ranked Rollins (18-3, 9-2) this afternoon.

Baseball starts strong

The baseball season opened last weekend with the Lions sweeping three games in the Comfort Suites Classic at Valdosta State, then beat No. 5 Florida Southern in the Lions' home opener.

All four victories were by wide margins and may force voters to consider the Lions for a top-25 spot in the next Division II poll.

The Lions have outscored their opponents 53-14. Ryan Brnovich continued his hot hitting from last year, hitting .421 with eight hits, five runs and six steals in the first four games.

But the big surprise has been sophomore C Daniel Torres. He is 9-for-16 (.562) thus far with a team-best eight RBIs.

The Lions pitching staff is also off to a good start, with Rick Teasley, Aaron Brandt and Charles Neely combining for only two earned runs allowed in 18 innings.

Softball in action

The softball team (3-1) is playing all weekend in the Eckerd College Triton Invitational in Clearwater. They play Armstrong, Nova Southeastern and Georgia College this weekend.