Taking advantage of a 49-24 rebounding edge and knocking down 29-of-35 free-throw attempts, the unbeaten Lee basketball team improved to 5-0 on Monday evening with an 88-81 victory over previously undefeated Milligan College. The Flames will take a break for the Thanksgiving holiday and return to action one week from Thursday, hosting (Memphis) Christian Brothers to open Gulf South Conference play.
Lee held a 35-30 halftime advantage and increased the lead to 10 points on three occasions in the second half but the visitors from Johnson City refused to fold and kept the margin to within a 3-5 point span until the final two minutes. Lee sealed the victory by marching to the free-throw line and converting eight straight attempts.
"We knew it was going to be this type of game," said coach Tommy Brown. "My teams played against teams coached by Bill Robinson when he was coaching at Montreat and I was coaching at Bluefield. It was always close and hard-fought games. He does a great job of coaching."
Cory Billingsley paced the Lee scoring with 23 points. He also converted 10-of-12 free throws and garnered six rebounds. "Cory is almost impossible to stop if we can get him in one-on-one situations. You are either going to have to foul him or he is going to score."
Billingsley had plenty of help. Four other Flames reached double-figure scoring. Tyquan Roberts finished with 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Jervon Johnson had one of the best games of his two-year career with a double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds. Elgrin Wilson came off the bench to counter with 11 points and made 5-of-7 shots from the field. Chase Cullen was 6-of-8 from the line and tallied 10 points, while Stedmon Ford converted 6-of-7 charity tosses and posted eight points to go along with five assists.
"Our sophomores are really starting to play well," noted Brown as he praised the consistent effort of Johnson, Ford and Cullen. "We've still have two sophomores out with injuries, and when Bryce Copeland and Jamal Worthington return that should make us even better."
The Flames also enjoyed one of their best shooting nights of the season, knocking down 28-of-60 field goal attempts (47 percent). However, coach Brown was not pleased with his club's defensive effort, especially in the second half. Milligan scored 51 points in the second 20 minutes while the Flames had to outscore the visitors with 53 markers of their own. "We will spend a lot of extra time working on defense during the holiday break," he commented.
The balanced Buffalo attack was paced by guard Mickey Woods who finished with 19 points. Will Robinson, the son of the Milligan coach, came off the bench and connected on 6-of-7 field goal attempts, including three 3-pointers in scoring 15 markers. Julian Bailey totaled 12 points and Morgan McLeod tossed in 11.
For the game, Milligan shot 47 percent (32-of-69). The visitors were 10-of-14 from the free-throw line. Lee turned the basketball over 15 times and the Buffaloes had 13 floor mistakes. Lee dominated play in the paint by a 42-26 margin and claimed 15 second-chance points to only two for Milligan.
