There are a couple of phrases that come to mind after Lee's 91-75 victory over visiting West Florida on Thursday evening in Walker Arena. Welcome home and home sweet home.
The Flames had not played a home game since Jan. 5 and had not played before the student body since before the Christmas break. Playing before an enthusiastic crowd and charged up from the opening whistle, Lee ended a seven-game losing streak with the impressive victory. Five of those losses came during a series of road games that began on Jan. 10 and did not end until Jan. 24.
The Flames led 38-35 at the break but out-scored the Argonauts 14-0 to begin the second 20 minutes and never looked back in posting their 10th victory of the year against nine defeats. The Flames improved to 5-9 in Gulf South Conference play.
Clicking on all cylinders, Lee shot an impressive 53 percent from the field and made 6-of-12 3-point attempts in the second half. They also had 15 assists compared to only nine turnovers. The turnover to assist ratio drew the attention of coach Tommy Brown after the game. His Flames had been hampered by turnovers during the losing streak and their opponents had been able to convert the miscues into points. On the other hand, West Florida committed 16 floor mistakes.
Three Flames put up big numbers. Chase Cullen established a couple of career highs with a double-double, 25 points and 10 rebounds. "Chase was at his best tonight," noted Brown. "His overall hustle seemed to inspire our entire team." Cullen hit 10-of-15 shots from the field and was 5-of-7 from the charity stripe.
Senior Cory Billingsley returned to top form with a 20 point performance. He was 8-of-12 from the field and 2-of-5 from behind the arc. However, it was sophomore Jervon Johnson who brought the crowd to its feet early in the second half. Sizzling hot from 3-point range (5-of-10) Johnson made a pair of unbelievable shots and recorded 20 points. Chad Lee finished with eight points and seven rebounds. Brown also praised the effort of Cody Farley who came off the bench and dished off three key assists. Stedmon Ford was consistent with eight assists compared to just four turnovers.
For the losers, Demetrius Moore tallied 19 points and garnered six rebounds. Erin Straughn came off the bench and totaled 14 points and eight rebounds, while Lendward Griffin finished with 11 markers.
The Flames held the visitors to 39 percent shooting from the field and just 27 percent from behind the arc. The visitors did go to the line 36 times and converted 27. Each team had 35 rebounds.
"I wish the fans who could not attend tonight's game could have seen just how good a 6-14 team is in the league," pointed out Brown. "West Florida had a lot of big strong athletes but on this night we were able to make our shots and play some pretty solid defense. I thought the 14-0 run in the second half kind of took something out of them. Our guys played with a lot of energy and determination. We will have to do the same if we hope to beat another good Valdosta State team on Saturday."
Saturday's doubleheader begins with the ladies contest at 2 p.m. and the men will follow around the 4 p.m. hour.
