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The Alice Lloyd Eagles traveled to South Florida on Friday and Saturday to finish the 2016 portion of their season against two tough opponents: Florida National University and Saint Thomas University. Below are recaps of each contest.

December 16

ALC- 57 Florida National- 82

HIALEAH, FLORIDA- A very athletic Florida National squad from the USCAA pulled away in the second half to defeat the visiting Eagles on Friday night.

In the opening stanza, the two teams traded baskets as the game remained tight. Alice Lloyd did a good job of controlling the tempo and went into the locker room with a 28-26 advantage.

In the second half, the hosts reversed things. ALC went stone cold while Florida went on a huge run. FNU placed six players in double figures as they pulled away until the final horn.

For Alice Lloyd (4-8), three players reached double figures. They were led in scoring by freshman guard Blake Smith who connected on 6-9 field goals for 15 points. He was followed by junior guard Austin Crisp and junior forward Jake Allen, each with 10.

Jermohn Queen led Florida (6-9) with 16 points.

Alice Lloyd hit only 42.5% (18-42) from the field while the victors sank 47.9%, but got off many more attempts (35-78).

December 17

ALC- 75 Saint Thomas University-81

HIALEAH, FLORIDA- The Alice Lloyd Eagles battled to the wire before finally succumbing at the hands of a powerful NAIA opponent, the Saint Thomas University Bobcats, on Saturday night.

In the opening half, the visitors played solid ball and led the majority of the way. Leading 34-28 with three minutes remaining, Alice Lloyd saw the Bobcats close on a 10-0 spurt and take a 38-34 advantage by intermission.

In the second half, the hosts would slowly extend their lead, which reached its zenith of 16 (72-56) with 5:53 remaining. However, the Eagles refused to fold.

Sparked by a flurry of second half points from freshman Blake Smith, ALC began to shrink the deficit. Over the next four minutes, the agile guard would proceed to score 11 consecutive Eagle points. Following his three-point play at the 1:23 mark, Alice Lloyd only trailed 77-73.

After a steal on the defensive end, the Eagles would get a golden opportunity to get within one possession, but unfortunately, they missed the attempt. The hosts then iced the game with two late free throws.

For ALC (4-9), Smith scored a game and career-high 31 points.  22 of these came in the second half. He drained 14-19 field goals for his impressive total. Sophomore guard Ryan House sank all four of his long bombs and contributed 14 points. Junior forward Jake Allen just missed a double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds.

For the game, the Eagles shot a solid 47.4% (27-57) with a 50% (7-14) showing from behind the arc.

Senior forward Mason Pack led the team with 3 assists.

 The Bobcats (8-2) had four players score 78 of their points. They were led by Kristers Zeidaks with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Raheem Bowman added 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Saint Thomas shot 45.5% (30-66) from the field including a 32.3% (10-31) effort from 3-point distance.