Saint Leo forced Valdosta State into 22 turnovers as the Lions defeated the Blazers 69-59 in men’s basketball action at The Bowman Center Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (5-2) came up with eight steals in the game while also limiting Valdosta State (3-3) to 36.4 percent shooting from the floor. The 22 turnovers by the Blazers, coupled with a 22-of-29 performance from the free throw line, helped SLU overcome its own poor shooting performance as the Lions shot just 37.5 percent from the floor.

After Josh Sparks scored on a lay-up to open the scoring in the game, Saint Leo grabbed the lead for good as it scored the next seven points of the game. The Blazers missed their next five shots and turned the ball over four times before next scoring on a Drew Maynard free throw with 15:08 to play in the half.

VSU closed to within three points over the next four minutes of action, only to the Lions respond with six straight points. SLU eventually built a 24-14 advantage with 3:08 remaining in the half before settling on a 29-20 halftime lead.

After Tristan Steele opened the second half scoring with a three, Saint Leo scored 11 of the next 13 points to push its advantage into double digits. The Lion lead reached 18 three minutes later before topping out at 51-31 with 9:31 to go in the contest.

Valdosta State put together its only true run of the game over the next eight minutes as it used a 21-7 run to close to within 58-52. Sidney Harris and Chris Rozier spurred the run as they scored seven points each, with Rozier closing out the spurt with a three-pointer with 1:38 to play to get the Blazers within six points.

Saint Leo connected on 11-of-12 free throws in the final 76 seconds to close out the victory.

Sparks led Valdosta State as he scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds while also blocking three shots. Harris added 13 points while Rozier had 11.

VSU connected on just 20-of-55 field goals while also hitting just 12-of-21 free throws. The Blazers out-rebounded SLU 42-35.

Trent Thomas scored 19 points to lead the Lions while Marcus Ruh added 16. SLU connected on 21-of-56 field goal attempts.

Valdosta State returns to action next Sunday, when it travels to Armstrong Atlantic for a 3 p.m. game.