MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Lee University men's basketball team opened its 2015-16 Gulf South Conference (GSC) schedule with a 72-56 loss at Christian Brothers University (2-4, 1-0 GSC). The Flames (2-4, 0-1 GSC) remain on the road to battle Union University Saturday at 5 p.m. EST.
The Flames jumped out to a 14-4 lead after the first four minutes of play and led by five at the halftime break. Christian Brothers battled back to take the lead early in the second half and continued to add to their lead until reaching the final margin of 16.
"Christian Brothers did a good job of shutting us down in the second half," second Lee head coach Tommy Brown. "They kept us from penetrating and when we did we weren't able to kick it out with their double and triple teams."
Keevin Tyus scored nine of his 15 points in the first half, while 10 of CJ Reese's team-leading 17 points came in the opening 20 minutes. Tyus added a team-high eight rebounds and Reese led the team with five assists.
Bryce Copeland and Jervon Johnson tallied six markers each. Elgrin Wilson added four points to go along with five rebounds. Rantavious Gilbert accounted for three points, six rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Bucs grabbed 40 rebounds to Lee's 31 and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 20 second-chance points. The Flames garnered eight points out of their nine offensive boards.
After turning the ball over three times in the first half, the Flames finished the game with 15 floor mistakes. CBU traded those gifts in for 14 points. Lee turned the Bucs' 14 turnovers into eight points.
"We played well in the first half, so that is encouraging," added Brown. "We just have to make some adjustments in our post defense."
Christian Brothers was led by Drew Hildreth's 19 points, 11 rebounds, five steals and four blocked shots. Adam Dieball added 16 points and six assists. Tyler Estep and Jeff Larkin rounded out CBU's double-digit scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
