Chase Cullen came up with a key steal with less than one minute remaining and after being fouled converted a pair of free throws to help the Lee men's basketball team turn back upset-minded Hiwassee College on Tuesday evening in Walker Arena.

The Flames had to battle from start to finish before finally putting the hungry Tigers away in posting a 79-75 non-conference victory. Trailing until the 3:30 mark in the first half, the Flames finally grabbed the lead and held a 41-39 edge at the break. 

"We came out a little flat but give Hiwassee credit, they came ready to play and took the fight to us the entire 40 minutes," said coach Tommy Brown. "They are a veteran club with a lot of talent and have played against several NCAA Division I programs during the season."

The Flames got another big effort from Keevin Tyus, who was 12-of-16 from the charity stripe and 8-of-11 from the field in finishing with a game high 28 points. Stephan Burrows also helped the Flames in the comeback victory. He was 7-of-11 from the field and recorded 16 points. Cullen tossed in 13 points and Levi Woods made three treys for his nine points.

Rantavious Gilbert had eight points and five blocks. Cullen led the Lee rebounding with nine. Elgrin Wilson added eight boards and Gilbert pulled down seven as the Flames won the rebounding battle, 44-37.

The Flames shot a solid 48 percent from the field (28-of-59) and were only able to hit 4-of-13 shots from behind the arc. They were awarded 28 freebies and canned 19. The Flames had 11 turnovers and the Tigers turned the ball over only seven times. 

The Tiger attack was paced by Demetrius Kitchens, who tallied 19 points. Danny Graves followed with 17 and Kaseem Davidson pitched in with 15. The Lee defense held the Tigers to just 37 percent shooting from the field. However, the visitors did convert 8-of-23 shots from behind the arc. They were awarded 18 free throws and converted 13. 

"We were certainly playing short-handed tonight," noted Brown. "Rico (Overall) was unable to go and we also did not want to use Bryce (Copeland). We hope to have both in the lineup when we go against Shorter on Thursday." 

Both the Flames and Shorter will be battling for the final spot in the eight team field of the upcoming Gulf South Conference tournament. However, the Flames will need some help to make the field. If Lee wins over Shorter, West Georgia would have to defeat West Alabama to give Lee a spot in the tournament.