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The Lee men's basketball team closed on an 11-0 run to hand Union University its first defeat of the 2014-15 season by a 78-71 margin on Saturday afternoon in Walker Arena.

The Flames would take the lead for good over their conference foe on a 3-point basket by Stedmon Ford. The sophomore gave Lee a 72-71 advantage with 2:09 remaining and the Flames made it stick with solid defense and free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

"We said before the game this was going to be like a boxing match tonight," said head coach Tommy Brown. "We would go on a run and then they would fight back and I'm glad we were able to close on the last run."

Ford led Lee with 17 points and was a perfect 3-for-3 behind the arc and 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Seniors Cory Billingsley and Tyquan Roberts followed with 15 points each. Sophomore Jervon Johnson continued to make the most of his starting opportunity chipping in 10 markers to go along with eight rebounds.

"I thought our inside guys did a great job we felt that was an advantage for us going into this game," said Brown. "Wilson (Elgrin) continues to improve and I thought Jervon played his best game as a Flame tonight and is attacking the basket now and being much more aggressive."

Lee shot 51 percent from the field in the contest while limiting the Bulldogs to 41 percent shooting. The Jackson club did most of its damage from 3-point distance as they hit 11 treys on 26 attempts. The Flames took advantage of 30 foul shots converting on 22 (73.3 percent) while Union went 10-of-15 from the free-throw line (66.7 percent).

Both clubs did a nice job of taking care of the basketball as Lee dished off 14 assists while committing just 10 turnovers. Union registered 15 assists and was guilty of 13 floor mistakes.

The Bulldogs got 28 points off the bench from Corieon Pearson while Ashanti Day added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Marterrace Brock tallied nine points, seven boards and four helpers off the bench.

The Flames held a 37-32 advantage at the halftime break but Union jumped out quick to begin the second half of play. The Jackson club used an 11-2 run to take a 43-41 lead with 15:53 remaining. The Bulldogs would extend the lead to as much as 11 before the comeback Flames fired back in the final 10 minutes.

With the win Lee moves to 6- 1 overall and are an even 1-1 in the Gulf South Conference. The loss snaps Union's seven game winning streak to begin the season and drops the Bulldogs to 1-1 in conference play.

The Lee Athletic Department hosted a special "Silent Night" game in which the crowd remains silent until the Flames' 10^th point and then erupts in a raucous cheer. The home team responded by opening up on an 11-0 run to start the game causing Brown to quip, "I think we should do this event every night."

The Flames will hit the road next week as they battle Valdosta State on Wednesday at 8 p.m. before traveling down to Pensacola to play West Florida on Saturday.