Lee's dramatic win over Mississippi College on Thursday left the Flames in the middle of the hunt for the final spot in the upcoming Gulf South tournament. While the Flames were pulling off the late comeback win, surging Valdosta State defeated West Alabama and Delta State whipped Shorter.

Currently Lee, Shorter and West Alabama are deadlocked for the eighth and final position in the tournament. All three clubs own a 7-13 mark in the rugged regular-season standings.

On Saturday, the Flames face a tough assignment against a Delta State club that is fighting for a No. 2 seed in the tourney, West Florida is at West Alabama and Shorter moves over to Mississippi College. However, if you want to look ahead to next Thursday, Lee goes to Rome, Ga. to tangle with Shorter and West Alabama is hosting a West Georgia squad that is also seeking a No. 2 seed in the GSC tourney. 

The schedule makers must have planned one of the most exciting finishes in the history of teams putting it all on the line to earn a higher seed or even gain a spot in the top eight to secure a position in the tournament.
 
CLINTON, Miss. - The Lee men's basketball team continued to battle for a final spot in the upcoming Gulf South Conference tournament with a dramatic comeback in the final five minutes to defeat Mississippi College 87-78 on Thursday evening.

The Flames trailed by eight points at the five-minute mark when sophomore Levi Woods helped spark a comeback that turned the rugged affair in Lee's favor. Lee made free throws and key shots in the final two minutes to insure the thrilling win.

"This is just a group of good kids that refuse to quit despite some really tough losses in the final seconds," said coach Tommy Brown as he heaped praise on this edition of this Flames. "It's easy for a team that has won 20-25 games to fight back after dropping close contests, but when you are fighting to make the tournament it takes character to continue to work in practice and in games like this group has."

The Choctaw seemed ready to salt the victory away when Woods rose up drained his first trey. Buckets by Keevin Tyus, Rantavious Gilbert and the ever-present Stephan Burrows followed before Woods canned another triple to help ice the victory. Woods also went to the free-throw line four times and converted all four when Mississippi College was forced to foul in the final two minutes.

The first half belonged to the hard-working Tyus, who scored 20 of his game-high 29 points. He also finished with another double-double by leading the Flames with 11 rebounds as they out-boarded the Choctaw 46-44.

Woods, who did not score in the first half, rang up all his 15 points in the second 20 minutes. He also carded five rebounds and dished off four assists. Burrows stepped up with an excellent 16 points, eight rebounds and seven assists effort. Rico Overall battled foul problems and still managed 10 points, while Gilbert, who was in foul trouble and played only 18 minutes, still finished with eight points, including a pair of 16-foot jumpers. He posted seven rebounds. Elgrin Wilson also helped with the comeback win, totaling seven points.

The Flames shot 43 percent from the field but had trouble knocking down 3-pointers. Overall started the game with a pair of treys and Woods hit two late as Lee hit just 5-of-17 for the contest. They also struggled at the free-throw line at times, hitting 24-of-31. Brown pointed out that his team had 15 assists compared to just eight turnovers. The stat sheet shows how well the contest was played as Mississippi College had 16 assists and only eight floor mistakes.

Stacey Mack paced the losers with 21 points, while DeOndre Haynes finished with 13. A total of nine Choctaw put points on the board as they shot 39 percent from the field and made just 6-of-26 treys. They were awarded 24 freebies and canned 18.

It's on to Cleveland, Miss. and a battle with talented Delta State as the Flames continue to fight for one of the eight spots in the upcoming GSC tournament.