The FCSAA #5 Santa Fe Saints came out scorching on Wednesday evening against TAAG Academy, shooting 70 percent in the first half on their way to an 85-56 victory. Chad Milliken was the catalyst, draining four, three pointers in the first period while going 5-for-5 from the field for 14 points through 20 minutes. He finished with a game high 17.
SF (15-3) trailed 6-4 in the early going but a closed out the half on a 53-20 run to take a 57-26 lead into the locker room. The Saints were 21-for-30 in the first period and 7-for-12 from behind the arc.
“I thought we did a nice job in the first half playing unselfishly, finding the open guy,” said SF Coach Chris Mowry. “Chad shot the ball very well and we pushed it in transition for some easy buckets.”
Santa Fe slowed down in the second half and was outscored 30-28 over the final 20 minutes but thanks to a large first half lead still pulled out the 29 point win.
“For as good as we played in the first half offensively, we didn’t do many things right in the second half,” said Mowry. “Hopefully we will learn from this and play with intensity for 40 minutes next game.”
Ten players scored for SF including 17 from Milliken, 14 from Andre Horne, Morris Marshall scored 10 and Shea Jones chipped in nine.
“Tonight was a good opportunity for a lot of guys to get some minutes,” said Mowry. “That’s very important as we get closer to conference.”
Santa Fe has one more non-conference tune-up at home on Saturday, Jan. 18, against State College of Florida at 4 p.m. before opening up MFC play next week. The game will be broadcast live on www.ihigh.com/santafesaints.
For complete schedules and more information on Men’s Basketball, please visit www.sfcollege.edu/athletics. To see game photos and other updates, follow Santa Fe College Athletics on Facebook.