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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Propelled by a second-half surge the University of Alabama in Huntsville Chargers topped the Lee men's basketball team, 75-68 on Thursday evening in Gulf South Conference action.

The Flames jumped out to an early advantage and took a nine-point lead into the halftime break (43-34) before the Chargers stormed out of the locker room with a 13-2 run and outscored Lee, 41-25 in the final period. UAH evened the season series after Lee won convincingly, 81-62 back on Dec. 20 in Cleveland.

"They did a nice job of keeping us out of the paint in the second half," said Lee head coach Tommy Brown. "I thought we actually defended better in the second half but we fouled too much and didn't move our legs very well. Offensively we got a little stagnant against the man to man defensive and committed too many turnovers."

Foul shots proved to be the difference in the contest. The Chargers shot a whopping 39 freebies and cashed in 32 (82 percent). The Flames earned just 15 charity tosses and hit 10 (67 percent).

"The talent level is very equal in this league and that makes it difficult to win especially on the road when the free-throw shooting is that lopsided," acknowledged Brown. "We certainly don't want to make excuses and we have to find ways to win games even when things don't go our way."

Senior Chad Lee led a balanced scoring attack for the Flames. Lee finished with 15 points and grabbed five rebounds in the contest. The Chattanooga native now has 508 career rebounds in his four years at Lee.

Stedmon Ford and Elgrin Wilson registered 14 apiece while Cory Billingsley rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13 markers. Stephan Burrows dished out a game-high five assists.

"I thought we played hard and really battled tonight," added Brown. "We were shorthanded in the post but Isaac (Merian) came off the bench and gave us good production."

Lee was playing without junior college transfer Cody Farley who was diagnosed with concussion like symptoms. Forward Tyquan Roberts was also limited as he returned after missing two games with a foot injury.

As a team the Flames hit 25-of-58 (43 percent) from the field while the Chargers finished 19-of-46 (41 percent). Lee won the rebounding battle by a 34-28 margin.

Preston Herring's 17 points paced the home team's offensive effort. Seab Webster pitched in 14 points and Ronnie Mack tallied 13. Greg Gardner scored 12 and pulled down eight boards.

After committing just four first half turnovers Lee turned the ball over 14 times in the second half helping the Chargers quickly erase the halftime deficit. Alabama Huntsville was guilty of 14 floor mistakes. Both teams scored 21 points off turnovers.

The loss ends a modest two-game winning streak for Lee as it falls to 11-10 overall and 6-10 in league play. The Chargers have now won 7 of 9 and are 16-6 overall and 11-5 in the GSC.

The Flames will get back to work on Saturday as they travel to Florence to battle North Alabama. Tip time is set for 4 p.m.