SAINT LEO, Fla. – No. 9/12 UWF men's basketball dropped its finale at the Saint Leo Crossover Classic 69-65 to the host Lions Saturday. Maxwell Benoit led UWF with a season-high 15 points.
 
"I would think [this weekend] will show our guys just how far we've got to go, and that they've got to get better quickly," said UWF head coach Jeff Burkhamer.
 
The Argonauts built a 38-26 halftime lead behind early hot shooting. UWF went 15-of-29 (.517) from the field, 5-of-6 (.833) and 3-of-3 (1.00) from the line in the first 20 minutes. Benoit notched 12 first half points on 3-of-3 shooting from deep and 4-of-8 shooting from the field. Jarrett Henderson added seven points and Rashaan Benson posted six.
 
UWF held Saint Leo to an 8-of-25 (.320) mark from the field in the first, but, in the second, the Lions broke through. The home side knocked down 15-of-26 (.577) attempts from the field in the closing half. Saint Leo was paced by Kyran McClure. He scored 15 of his game-high 24 in the closing half. The Argos shot just 6-of-22 (.273) from the field in the second.
 
"In the second half, they pressured us, and we didn't handle their pressure well," said Burkhamer.
 
A layup by Alassane Kah brought the Argos within 62-60 with 90 seconds to play. The Lions (2-2) proved too much down the stretch though, using a layup and a free throw by McClure to extend their lead back to 65-60 less than 30 seconds later.
 
Benoit knocked down three free throws with nine seconds to go to cut the Lion lead to 67-65 before two free throws in the waning seconds by McClure sealed the game.
 
"They made some big shots down the stretch, but we burned ourselves by making some very immature plays, getting technicals and giving them easy points," said Burkhamer.
 
The Argonauts were assessed two technical fouls and committed five turnovers in the second.
 
Benson finished with 11 points, three rebounds and one assist. He is now just two assists away from matching the all-time UWF career assists record set by Deondre Boynton (411). Kah posted 10 points plus six rebounds, one block and one steal. Henderson, Jon Brown and Henri Ventoniemi all scored nine points.
 
The Argonauts (2-2) will open at home vs. Spring Hill (2-2) Tuesday. Tip is slated for 7:30 p.m. at the UWF Field House.
 
"Hopefully we're excited about playing a home game and we can come back and play through adversity a little bit to finally get back on the right track before we get into conference play," said Burkhamer.
 
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