Men's basketball continues success

The men's basketball team's improbable rise into Sunshine State Conference contention continued this past week with another pair of remarkable wins.

The Lions (13-10, 7-6 SSC) throttled Rollins 71-45 in Winter Park last Friday, the first time Saint Leo has won on Rollins' home floor in 13 years. They followed up that victory with a 75-72 win at Florida Southern on Wednesday, completing a season sweep of the Moccasins.

On a four-game win streak, Saint Leo is now in sole possession of fourth place in the league standings, entering today's action when it faces Nova Southeastern (11-12, 5-8) at the Bowman Center. With a win the Lions can be seeded no worse than fifth in the conference tournament.

Coach Lance Randall has praised the defense during the winning streak, particularly against the Tars, which typically have some of the conference's best shooters.

Rough debut

The women's lacrosse team played its first match last Saturday, falling to Rollins 23-7. Nonetheless, it was a historic day for the Saint Leo athletics program.

Stephanie Maran was the Lions' top offensive player with three goals, but the problem was defense as the Tars erased any chances of a Saint Leo victory with a 15-2 run that carried into the second half.

The Lions returned to action Friday against Lindenwood, seeking the program's first victory.

Men start strong

The men's lacrosse team opened the season with a 15-4 win against Florida Tech on Tuesday.

George Proechel had four goals and an assist, while Tom Horn and Ray Ferrara had three goals apiece. Patrick Barry allowed only two goals in almost 51 minutes of work.

The Lions return to action Thursday at Catawba.

Looking to rebound

The baseball team saw its four-game win streak end after being swept in a three-game series at Columbus State last weekend. Now the Lions try to get another streak going with a pair of home games this weekend.

The Lions (5-3) played Florida Christian College on Friday night, and face Clearwater Christian tonight at 6.

Saint Leo's bats were quiet against Columbus State, scoring just nine runs in the three games. But they came alive in a 6-1 win against Eckerd on Tuesday, sparked by a home run from Michael Revell. Rick Teasley pitched a complete-game six-hitter, with nine strikeouts, to move to 2-0 on the season.

Softball hosts invite

The Saint Leo Spring Invitational began Friday and concludes Sunday at the softball stadium, with the Lions playing games against five different opponents.

The round-robin format has the Lions (5-4) facing Pittsburg State, Lindenwood, Valdosta State, Saint Mary's (Texas) and Armstrong. They play twice today, beginning at 9 a.m., and conclude with a 5 p.m. game Sunday.

SSC swimming meet

The second-to-last event for both the men's and women's swimming teams is taking place through today in Clearwater. The men began Friday's competition in fourth place while the women were in fifth.

The lone event win for the Lions in the meet came from senior Tim Olson. The former Land O' Lakes High swimmer was tops in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday with a time of 20.65 seconds, which was 0.17 seconds faster than the rest of the field.