LAKE WALES, Fla. – For the first time in 4 years the Royals suffer a home loss to Sun-Conference foe Florida Memorial.

The Lions dominated the first twenty minutes, out shooting the Royals 48% to 35% as a team.

At halftime the Royals trailed FMU 41-30, their largest deficit at halftime at home all season. Early foul trouble plagued the Royals the entire half, as 4 different Royals went into the lockeroom with 2 fouls.

Darryl Mercer Jr. led a struggling Royals offense with 11 points, a game-high at halftime, having shot 4-7 from the field, with 1 rebound and 2 assists. As a team the Royals were shooting 35% from the field during the half.

Warner trailed Florida Memorial by 13 points in the second half with 16 minutes left in the game but in less than 4 minutes the Royals were able to tie the game 51-51.

The Lions tightened up their defense around Darryl Mercer Jr. in the 2^nd half, holding him to 2 points on 1-4 shooting.

Maxwell Benoit took off for 12 points in the half. Scoring 7 points late in the game in 3 minutes before going down hard and subbing out for the remainder of the game.

The Royals held strong down the stretch, battling not only the Lions but foul trouble as well. Jaquez Dickerson and Joshua Rathell both fouled out, which spread the Warner bench very thin.

With the Royals trailing 74-72, Joseph Martz attempted a game winning 3-point shot win with 4 seconds left in the game but was unable to cash in on his shot and give the Royals the win.

This moves Warner to 4-5 in the TSC and 15-7 overall, which means that they must find a way to pull it together and find a way to stay in the TSC playoff conversation.