Warner men fall short against No. 9 St. Thomas

LAKE WALES — Khalil Ozuna has been one of the best big men in The Sun Conference this season. His ability as a rebounder and scorer has given Warner the luxury of playing a smaller, perimeter-oriented group around him.

St. Thomas is anything but small, and the undersized Royals learned that the hard way. Ozuna struggled against big Bobcats’ senior Raheem Bowman as Warner was pummeled inside.

St. Thomas rallied back from an early 13-point deficit and ran away late for a 94-89 win at the Turner Athletic Center on Thursday.

“We had so many opportunities to make pays,” said Warner head coach Sean Hanrahan. “We scored 49 points in the second half, shot 48 percent. I don’t know if it’s much we can do on offense.”

Warner (17-10, 8-7 TSC) fell to the ninth-ranked Bobcats (20-6, 12-2 TSC) for the second time this season. Bowman has had his way both games. The 6-foot-11, 325-pound center scored 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds on Thursday.

He scored 20 and corralled 13 rebounds in the 89-79 win last month.

“He’s definitely a threat and we definitely treat him as a threat,” Ozuna said. “(We) just to try to get around him, slow down his other guys, and just try to make him put it on the floor.”

Ozuna, who labored through a 10-of-25 night shooting the ball, was called for a travel late in the second half. St. Thomas made Warner pay as Mikon Hewitt hit a 3-pointer 2:40 left to push the lead to 83-72.

Melton Sanders, who scored 19 points in the first half, cooled off significantly in the second half. The junior managed five shots and 13 points, finishing with 32 as the Royals missed the play of guard Nick Macon.

Hanrahan decided to sit the junior in the second half.

Sanders’ big start helped push Warner to the early lead but, as the turnovers and missed layups piled up, St. Thomas came roaring back.

Bowman and the Bobcats finally broke out with a 16-2 run, turning a nine-point deficit into a six-point lead at 40-34.

“We lost by five points,” Hanrahan said. “We missed seven game-point layups and four dunks. These weren’t contested dunks. If we were able to just take our time and squeeze those in, now you’re talking about we’ve got a chance down a guy to beat one of the best teams in the country.”