CARROLLTON, Ga. - Paced by a 33 point effort by Lee senior Cory Billingsley and 15 points by Chase Cullen, Lee scored its biggest victory of the season, stunning the University of West Georgia in Gulf South Conference action on Saturday afternoon, 89-84.
After leading only 44-42 at the half, the Flames built up a 68-54 lead on a bucket by Elgrin Wilson with 13:32 remaining only to see the Wolves come fighting back and cut the lead to only one point before the Flames cashed in on key free throws by Billingsley and Stedmon Ford in the final seconds to post the huge win.
"It was certainly our biggest win of the year and one of our biggest since I have been coaching at Lee," admitted coach Tommy Brown after his Flames held on down the stretch. "I'm really proud of these kids. They played so hard only to see West Alabama pull one out on Thursday and then have this opportunity to win today. We had so many kids put it all on the line this afternoon."
While Billingsley and Cullen was leading the way, Wilson tallied 11 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. The Flames out-rebounded the talented Wolves 35-29. Brown praised the effort of Stephan Burrows who had eight points and played some tough defense. He liked the effort of Ford who made a couple of key free throws. Jervon Johnson canned two treys as the Flames made seven 3-pointers on the day.
Lee shot an amazing 61 percent from the field, hitting 33-of 54 attempts. They held the Wolves to 46 percent shooting from the floor but West Georgia made 9-of-19 3s and converted 9-of-27 free throws.
Deonta Stocks was the game's leading scorer with 33 points. "He's a pro," commented Brown. "I think it's time for him to move on but he is only a sophomore. Deontre Brown finished with 20 points for the losers and Alex Abrew had 13 points before leaving the game with five fouls.
Lee outscored the Wolves 48-32 in points in the paint and collected 16 points off turnovers. They also got a key effort in points off the bench, outscoring West Georgia 30-27.
After playing 9-of-11 games on the road, the Flames will return home on Thursday and play their final four regular season games. Thursday's action at Walker Arena gets underway at 6 p.m. The first of a doubleheader.
