HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Lee University men's basketball team finished the pre-holidays portion of their schedule with an 88-75 loss to The University of Alabama in Huntsville. The Flames (3-8, 1-5 GSC) will take some time off before traveling to Carrollton, Ga., to face University of West Georgia on Jan. 2 at 4 p.m.
Rico Overall was the offensive leader for Lee. The junior tallied 17 of his game-high 28 points in the first half after making all five of his three-point attempts in the opening 20 minutes. He finished the game 6-for-7 from behind the three-point line.
"Rico had his best game so far," said Lee head coach Tommy Brown. "He has been battling injuries all season. We need him to score, especially when they double and triple team Keevin (Tyus)."
Tyus recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. CJ Reese added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists.
Rantavious Gilbert made 3-of-4 shots to tally eight points to go with six rebounds and three blocked shots. Levi Woods dished out a team-leading four assists.
UAH (8-3, 5-1 GSC) carried a 52-43 lead into the half after making 20-of-29 (.690) shots from the field and 10-of-14 (.714) from beyond the arc. The Flames were 16-for-33 (.485) overall and made 6-of-11 (.545) 3-point attempts.
The Chargers cooled in the second half, but so did Lee. For the game, UAH was 33-for-66 (.500) from the floor and made 17-of-37 (.459) 3-pointers. Lee finished the game near 43-percent (27-for-63) from the field and connected on 10-of-22 (.455) shots behind the arc.
"They really got going downhill on us off the drive and hit some open threes in the first half," admitted Brown. "We contested better and forced them into tougher shots after halftime."
Justin Ward made seven three-pointers to lead UAH with 27 points. Preston Herring and Tanner Finley were the only other Chargers to reach double-digits. Herring scored 13 points to go with nine rebounds. Finley made 4-of-6 3-pointers to finish with 12 points.
The Flames passed out a season-high 21 assists and turned the ball over a season-low 10 times. The Chargers committed eight floor mistakes and amassed 27 assists. Both teams pulled down 36 rebounds and tallied 12 second chance points.
