December 6, 2011 Contact: Scott Jamison 352.395.5616 scott.jamison@sfcollege.edu
SF MEN’S BASKETBALL
SAINTS DEFEAT INDIAN 70-53 BEHIND A SUFFOCATING DEFENSIVE EFFORT
Gainesville, FL – The Santa Fe Saints turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season Tuesday night, holding the Indian River Pioneers to just 22.9% shooting (16-of-70) from the field in a 70-53 victory. The win moves the FCSAA #4 Saints to 9-1 on the season and dropped #8 IRSC to 6-2.
“This was a good, hard fought win for our team,” said SF Coach Chris Mowry. “I’m extremely happy with the effort we showed on both ends of the court. Defensively to hold them to 23% shooting is a tough thing to do against a team that has some very good offensive talent. We guarded the three point line well and forced them into some bad shots.”
Kevin Harden (pictured), back after missing two games to injury, led the offensive attack, netting 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting in 26 minutes of action. Josh Wiseman provided a spark with four three pointers, two in each half.
“Kevin gave us a great game on both ends of the floor,” said Mowry. “He defended, was aggressive on the boards and hit big shots. Josh also made four big threes to help extend our lead.”
Santa Fe started slow and trailed 7-2 in the early going. A 10-0 run punctuated by two Brian Holmes three pointers flipped the script and gave the Saints a 12-7 advantage seven minutes in.
Kevin Harden took over the final five minutes of the first half, scoring nine points to give SF a 39-27 advantage at the break.
In the second period Harden picked up where he left off in the first, scoring eight points in the first six minutes to put Santa Fe ahead 50-32. The largest lead of the game came at the four minute mark when back to back Josh Wiseman three pointers stretched the margin to 69-48.
The Saints faced a barrage of three point attempts over the final five minutes, but held the Pioneers to just five points, four on free throws, to secure the 70-53 win.
Indian River did their best to capitalize on their own misses, grabbing 24 offensive rebounds and outrebounded SF 48-43 on the game.
“Indian River did a great job rebounding, especially on the offensive glass,” said Mowry. “As a team we have to get in better position to stop those second chance opportunities.”
Kevin Harden finished with a game high 21 points, six rebounds and five assists, Josh Wiseman had 12 points and two assists, Brian Holmes added nine points and four assists, and Keshaun Hamilton led SF with 10 rebounds to go with six points.
Next up for Santa Fe is the tenth annual Florida College Shootout on December 10 and 11. The Saints battle East Georgia College on Saturday at 3:00 PM and St. Petersburg College on Sunday at 3:00 PM. A full tournament schedule can be found on the athletics webpage.
For complete schedules and more information on Saints Men’s Basketball, please visit www.sfcollege.edu/athletics. To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.
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