Lee's basketball team could probably not have come up with a better way to play its final Southern States Athletic Conference game and at the same time host its last NAIA men's game in Paul Dana Walker Arena.
The Flames, a member of the NAIA since the mid-70's, will move on to the Gulf South Conference next season and begin the move to NCAA Division II play. Coach Tommy Brown and his four seniors will also be a key part of the historic occasion.
Celebrating senior night, the Flames held visiting Truett-McConnell to an unbelievable 10 percent shooting in the opening half and built up a commanding 54-14 bleed at the break. It was more of the same in the second 20 minutes as the Bears only shot 19 percent for the game and were soundly defeated by the No. 2-ranked Lee club, 87-41.
"I think the first half was the best we've played since I've been here," said Brown after his Flames improved to 27-1 overall and 15-5 in SSAC play. "Not only did we hold them to 10 percent shooting, we also held the nation's leading scorer (Anthony Dorsey) without a point in the half." Dorsey, who averages over 26 points per game, finished the night with six points.
"Jamorris (Gaines) was the primary defender on Dorsey in the first half and did an outstanding job," added Brown. "Gaines had the height advantage and also the quickness to stay with a player like Dorsey. The rest of our team was solid on defense and gave us a good effort for the entire game. We also did not play any of our starters over 21 minutes and that should really help as we travel to Brewton-Parker on Saturday and face Emmanuel on Monday."
While the Flames were locking down on defense, senior Will Barnes was scoring 20 of his team-leading 27 points in the first half. For the game, Barnes made 10-of-15 shots from the floor and 4-of-6 from behind the arc. He also collected seven rebounds and two assists.
Gaines followed with 16 points, making 5-of-10 field goal attempts and connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. He had four rebounds, two assists and stymied the TMC offense with four blocks. Sophomore Chad Lee had three treys and finished with 12 points. Big Steve Bennett closed out his career in Walker Arena with 12 points. All totaled, 12 Flames saw action and all 12 scored.
Lee shot 42 percent from the field, 38 percent from 3-point range and continued to be impressive at the free-throw line, making 16-of-19 attempts. The Flames commanded the boards by a 53-34 margin. Bennett led the way with nine and his senior teammate Patrick Shaughnessy gathered six boards.
Lee only committed 12 turnovers and forced the Bears into 18 floor mistakes. Brown's unit out-scored the visitors by a whopping 45-4 gap in points off the bench. The Flames also had 20 points off turnovers and out-scored TMC 36-16 in points in the paint.
Brandon Joyner connected on 10-of-14 charity tosses and collected a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Andretti Loyd followed with seven.
