WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball team hosted Saint Leo University in Rubin Arena Saturday night where the Sailfish fought hard but couldn't come up with the victory in the end as the Lions sealed the deal with last second foul shots. The Lions would win the game 71-66.
The Sailfish (1-6) and the Lions (3-5) were evenly matched for most of the first half as the score remained 9-9 at the 12 minute mark. From there the Sailfish went on a bit of run and took a 17-10 lead on a huge dunk by Malek Barber at the 10 minute mark. De'Ondre Jackson would go on to add a big three point bucket to extend the lead to 8 points. The Lions would not go down easy as they clawed their way back getting within one on a layup by Tyler Carter. The Sailfish would keep their lead until a minute left in the half when the Lions would tie it up and eventually go ahead on two free throws with 30 seconds remaining to take the 35-33 lead into the half.
The second half was controlled by the Lions as they opened up their lead to an eight point deficit at the 16 minute mark with a fast break layup. The Sailfish continued to struggle and were down by the game high 11 points with 11 minutes left to go in the game. It was there that PBA would find new life thanks to a fast break three pointer by Paxton Wilson and a fast break layup by Matthew Johnson bringing the 'Fish within eight. The Sailfish would continue to hang around before Jackson hit another huge three pointer with 2:09 remaining to bring PBA the lead down to four and put the 'Fish in striking distance of the Lions. A strong layup from senior Michael Stone put the Sailfish within one before a foul would give Saint Leo two more points. Being up three, the Lions would foul on purpose to take away a potential game tying three ball. PBA could not convert the points and would have to once again hopelessly foul which would seal the game.
Palm Beach Atlantic was 24-47 from the field which gave them a 51% shooting percentage on the night. The 'Fish were also 4-11 from deep and converted 14-23 from the free throw line. Jackson would lead the Sailfish with 20 points on Saturday night, going 9-13 from the field which includes 2-4 from beyond the arch. He would also include eight rebounds to his stat sheet along with two assists. Barber would contribute 10 points to the scoreboard and three boards to his stat sheet. Wilson was 2-3 from the field tonight which were all from three point land. He also added two free throws to give him eight points on the night. Jules Jasmin also had eight points and six rebounds.
The Sailfish will be back in action on Friday Dec. 7 for another home game in Rubin Arena. The game is slated for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
