Turnovers and offensive rebounds have haunted the Lee men's basketball team for the majority of the 2015-16 season and that was the case again on Monday evening in a grinding 65-57 loss to visiting Mississippi College.

After committing just two turnovers deep into the first half, the Flames turned the basketball over six times in the final five minutes of the stanza and the floor mistakes carried over into the second 20 minutes. Lee finished the night with 17 turnovers to only 12 for the Choctaws.

Mississippi College claimed 11 offensive boards and finished the contest by out-rebounding Lee 40-32. "They were just tougher inside than we were," said a deeply disappointed coach Tommy Brown after his club suffered their 10th loss in the last 11 starts. "(Tory) Rice was a man inside for them. He finished with 16 rebounds and seven were offensive." Rice also tallied 11 points to produce the only double-double of the evening.

"We had more than our share of open looks from behind the 3-point line," pointed out Brown. "We just simply could not make the shots." The Flames attempted 17 treys and hit five. For the game, they shot a respectable 43 percent from the field but struggled at the free-throw line making only 6-of-13 attempts. 

Mississippi College owned a 28-24 margin at the half and out-scored the Flames 37-33 in the second stanza. Mississippi College was paced by the free-throw shooting Tristan Moore who converted 9-of-12 freebies and finished the contest with 19 points. Stacey Mack finished with 10 points, while Antonio Johnson came off the bench and hit three key 3-pointers for the winners. He tallied nine points. The Choctaws only shot 38 percent from the field, which shows the importance of them making 19-of-26 free throws. 

Keevin Tyus and Chase Cullen had 14 points apiece to pace the Lee scoring attack. Tyus led the relieve rebounders with seven. Rico Overall canned three treys and totaled 11 points in the loss. 

The Flames out-scored the Choctaws 30-20 in points in the paint but the Mississippi club converted Lee turnovers into 27 points. The Flames could muster only six points off turnovers.

Lee will continue its stretch of five straight home games on Saturday when it plays host to long-time rival Shorter University. The doubleheader begins at 5 p.m. with the women's action and the men will follow at 7 p.m.