Basketball wins, four athletes take SEC honors

The University of Florida‘s men’s basketball team began their 2009-10 season Monday night, defeating Saint Leo 95-46 in an exhibition game at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center. Gators freshman guard Kenny Boynton led the team with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting while going 5/9 from three-point range. Boynton also contributed six rebounds, two assists and three steals and appeared to tweak his knee at some point in the second half. The extent of the injury is not known, though it did not look serious to those in attendance and it is believed he will be fine to play in Florida’s next exhibition game.

Junior forward Alex Tyus recorded a team-high nine rebounds and added 10 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while sophomore point guard Erving Walker was good for 16 points and led the way with nine assists. Redshirt junior transfer center Vernon Macklin grabbed four rebounds and seven points. Also of note is that Israeli freshman PG Nimrod Tishman wants to be known as “Rod” (good choice) during his Gators career.

Football’s sophmore kicker Caleb Sturgis, volleyball’s senior libero Elyse Cusack and soccer players Lauren Hyde and McKenzie Barney all took home individual awards from the Southeastern Conference on Monday. Sturgis was named Special Teams Player of the Week, Cusack and Hyde both earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for their respective sports and Barney won Freshman of the Week. Sturgis kicked a 56-yard and 44-yard field goal in the Gators win over the Georgia Bulldogs.