Coming off an emotional victory over Emmanuel College just five days ago there was no let down for the Lee men's basketball team as they defeated conference rival Southern Polytechnic State University, 73-60 Thursday evening at Walker Arena.

The Flames jumped out to a 31-18 advantage at the intermission limiting the Hornets to just 22.6 percent shooting from the field.  In the second stanza Lee extended the margin out to 21 points with just under nine minutes to play but turnovers and foul trouble kept Southern Poly within striking distance for much of the final period. The Flames never relinquished the lead and held off the pesky Hornets to secure the 13-point victory.

"This team is killing me. I'm losing some hair I can't afford to lose." quipped coach Tommy Brown. "We keep blowing big leads late in the game. We can't seem to put teams away. I think we're going to have to turn them loose and stop trying to pull it back out with a big lead."

Will Barnes paced the Lee attack with 20 points and seven rebounds. Chase Dunn added 19 markers, six boards and three steals. Corey Billingsley made it three in double-figure scoring with 10 points.

Jamorris Gaines finished with nine points, two of which came on a show stopping one handed dunk over a Southern Poly defender that brought the home crowd to its feet. The 6-foot-6 junior soared high to slam it home and draw the foul. Gaines would add another acrobatic dunk a few minutes later to extend the Lee advantage in the second half.

"The two dunks by Jamorris (Gaines) were really something. He can really sky at times." noted Brown.

After struggling shooting the ball for most of the opening half the Flames ended up shooting 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field and 77.3 percent (17-of-22) from the charity stripe. The Lee defense held the Hornets to just 30.8 percent shooting from the field in the contest. The Flames won the rebounding battle by the slightest of margins, outrebounding the Georgia-based club 41-40. Lee committed 15 turnovers while Southern Poly was guilty of 11 floor mistakes.

The Hornets were led by Marcus Dortch with 14 points. CJ McElrath added 12 points and seven rebounds. De'Andre Blackmon tallied 11 points and Cortez Irby registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds coming off the bench for Southern Poly.

With the victory the No. 2 ranked Flames move to 25-1 on the year and 14-1 in the Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC). The loss drops SPSU to 13-14 and 4-12 in conference play.

"The conference race is a long way from being over. We still have road trips to Emmanuel and Brewton Parker plus we square off with Truett-McConnell next week for Senior Night." Brown acknowledged.

Brown's club will be back in action on Monday with a non-conference matchup  against Hiwassee College set for  7 p.m. at Walker Arena.  Thursday the Flames remain at home as they welcome Truett-McConnell in for Senior Night. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.