Saints men's basketball lost their first game of the young season on Saturday, November 9 at the hands of the Polk State College Eagles, 68-74.

The first half of the game was a back-and-forth ride between both teams, ending with a 28-29 score in favor of the Eagles.

The Saints started the second half on an 8-0 run, but Polk State responded with a 28-8 run of their own.  The Saints ramped up their aggressiveness on offense to get to the foul line but had trouble converting the free throws into points, going 23 of 39.

Saints head coach Chris Mowry said, "We made it close late with our press, which created some turnovers."  He continued, "We were good in the half court defensively but did a poor job boxing out, which allowed Polk too many second chance points."

Mowry also commented, "I thought our team played hard and kept competing once we got down in the second half."

Ryan Leonard and Luka Filipovic lead the Saints with 16 points apiece. Filipovic also had nine rebounds.

Yaw Obeng-Mensah contributed 13 points.

Looking forward, Mowry added, "Getting back to practice and working hard will make us better."

The Saints (2-1, 0-0 MFC) play their next game at home against Central Pointe Prep on Tuesday, November 12 at 7:30 p.m.

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