Box Score
YOUNG HARRIS, Ga. - Lee's young and mostly inexperienced club was rudely welcomed to NCAA Division II basketball on Friday evening in the final game of the Peach Belt/Gulf South Challenge.
A strong, quick and experienced Young Harris team seized control early and never let up in handing the Flames a cold hard slap in the face, a 102-71 defeat. Lee must regroup quickly and face another Peach Belt opponent (North Georgia) on Saturday at 4:30. Shorter defeated North Georgia in a wild shootout in an earlier Friday game.
"I don't think I've ever coached a team that gave up 102 points," said coach Tommy Brown. "Young Harris has four Division I transfers and that showed tonight. They are a fast and very athletic team. I know our freshmen have probably never faced anything like they saw tonight."
Brown also pointed out that his club was going to have to grow up fast. "We are going to face a lot of these kind of teams in the Gulf South. I hope this weekend will show our guys how hard we are going to have to work and how well we are going to have to play against this type of competition."
The Mountain Lions moved out a 41-28 halftime advantage. The Flames had rallied to cut the deficit to 10 points just before the break. But each time Lee trimmed the margin, Young Harris would rally with a two-or-three point play and turn away any type of comeback hopes.
The balanced Mountain Lion attack was paced by 20 points from guard CJ Wilson. He also recorded a rare four-point play when he hit a 3-point shot and was fouled. Three other young Harris players scored in double figures. Guard Isiah Johnson tallied 16, while big Sam Johnson and Herdie Lawrence garnered 14 markers apiece.
The Flames only had two players in double-digit scoring against the physical play of the Mountain Lions. Corey Billingsley was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and totaled 15 points. Jay Marquette battled hard and finished with 10 while Chad Lee nailed two 3-pointers and joined Stedmon Ford with eight points.
Lee shot 36 percent from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. They struggled once again from the charity stripe, converting just 18 of 31. Twenty-two turnovers compared to just eight assists did not have the cause. The Flames did win the rebounding battle 44-40.
The Mountain Lions dominated play in the paint, outscoring Lee 54-28. They also tallied 23 points off turnovers to just seven for the Flames and out-ran Lee 21-4 in fast break points.
The loss dropped Lee to 3-1 on the year while Young Harris, which was coming off a huge homecoming win over Kentucky Wilson, improved to 3-0.
