SAINT LEO, Fla. – Florida Tech was unable to hold onto its double-digit second-half lead and the Panthers fell to Saint Leo, 71-57, in SSC action on Wednesday at the Marion Bowman Center.

The Crimson & Gray drop to 0-2 on the road and 1-5 in league play, while the Lions improve to 3-4 against SSC competition.

Derek Murphy paced Tech with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting and six rebounds. RJ Coil recorded his eighth double-double of the season on 16 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block. Trey Schaneville made the first start of his career tonight, finishing with 11 points on 3-of-3 from beyond the arc to go along with two rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Despite it being his first collegiate start, Schaneville was locked in from the very beginning of the game. The freshman opened the contest by knocking down a pair of threes to give the Panthers an early 6-3 lead.

SLU tied the game at 8-8 shortly after on a three by Isaiah Hill with 15:13 to go.

A three by Murphy capped a 9-2 run by the Panthers, which handed Tech a 19-13 advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half.

The Lions trimmed the margin to one, 25-24, later in the half on a trey by Gintaras Bartaskas with 7:04 to go. However, Florida Tech answered with a 6-0 run, including another three from Schaneville, and corralled its largest lead of the first half at 31-24 with 3:18 left.

Coil's layup with 45 seconds to go, off an assist from Darius Wright, made it a six-point Panther lead at halftime, 34-28.

Coil led all players with 12 points and seven rebounds in the first half. Schaneville scored all of his 11 points in the first half.

A 5-0 run to open the second half, including a three-point play by Murphy, pushed Florida Tech's advantage to double-digits, 39-28, with 17:42 remaining.

Poor shooting and turnovers by the Crimson & Gray allowed Saint Leo to ensue on a 15-1 run and grab a 43-40 lead with 10:48 left on the clock. A jumper by SLU's Junior Searcy later in the half gave the Lions a 54-48 lead with 6:35 to go.  

The Lions' advantage reached 56-48 after a pair of free throws by Searcy but Antonis Pefanis knocked down his second three of the game to cut Tech's deficit to five with 4:18 left.

Although this did little to halt the Panthers' poor play and shooting. The fouls also began to rack up at this point and Saint Leo was able to build its lead at the charity stripe.

Two makes at the line by Kyran McClure gave the Lions their largest lead of the game at 15 points, 71-56, with 13 seconds left before they eventually won by a 14-point margin.

The Panthers shot 18-of-48 (.375) in the game, while SLU made 40.4 percent from the field (19-of-47). Both teams knocked down 7-of-18 (.390) from beyond the arc.

Free throws were a big difference in the contest as the Lions hit 26 of their 30 attempts from the line. The Panthers made 14-of-25 in the game.

Tech controlled the rebounding battle with a 40-27 advantage, including a 15-6 edge on the offensive glass. The Lions scored 21 points off 19 Panther turnovers, while also tallying more bench points, 22-3.

Florida Tech is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 12, as the Panthers travel to Boca Raton for an SSC matchup with No. 21 Lynn. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. at the de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center.

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