Twenty-fifth ranked University of Alabama Huntsville rode the scoring of seniors Brandon Roberts and Seab Webster to a hard-fought victory over the Lee men on Saturday afternoon in Walker Arena. The win improved the Chargers record to 9-2 in the Gulf South Conference and 13-4 overall. Lee dropped to 5-6 in league play and 9-8 overall.
Roberts converted 12-of-14 free throws and also hit 10-of-13 shots from the field, 2-of-4 treys (34 points) and Webster got the visiting Chargers off to a quick start in the second half and tallied 22 points. He was 8-of-15 from the field and 4-of-12 from beyond the arc as Huntsville out-scored the battling Flames 101-94.
The Chargers cashed in at the free-throw line in the opening 20 minutes, making 13-of-18 attempts, while the Flames were only awarded four freebies and canned three. However, Lee managed to lead the contest at the half, 48-46.
After Huntsville moved out to its largest lead of the game (11 points), the Flames fought back and cut the lead to only four points in the final minute before Roberts sliced through the lane, converted a layup and was fouled on the play. The old fashioned 3-point play sealed the win for the talented Chargers.
The Flames managed to stay within striking distance by making nine 3-pointers in the opening half in finishing the contest with 16-of-30 triple attempts. They also went to the line 21 times in the second stanza and knocked down 19. Both teams shot the basketball extremely well. The Chargers shot 55 percent from the field and 44 percent from beyond the arc. They converted 23-of-30 charity tosses.
"They are a very good basketball team," said coach Bubba Smith. "I'm proud of the way our guys battled the entire game. A few breakdowns on defense cost us a chance to win. Roberts is an outstanding player and found ways to get to the basket. We just had way too many fouls called against us in the opening half and Huntsville's quick start in the second half hurt our chances."
The Flames got double-figure scoring from four players. Jervon Johnson turned in his best performance of the season with a team-leading 21 points. He was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and knocked down 3-of-7 treys. Cody Jones caused the Charger defense plenty of problems by nailing 6-of-11 3-pointers and finished the contest with 18 points. Levi Woods was solid with 3-of-4 treys and 4-of-5 free throws (15 points). Keevin Tyus was held to 12 points but still recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds.
The Flames also shot 53 percent from the field and 53 percent from beyond the arc. Lee had 12 turnovers and Huntsville only recorded six floor mistakes in the win.
The Chargers out-rebounded the Flames by a narrow 30-29 margin. Webster had six rebounds to go along with is 22 points. Troy Saxton canned a pair of key triples and totaled 10 points. Justin Ward was 2-of-3 from behind the arc and was 4-of-4 on freebie attempts and also finished with 10 points.
The Flames will return to action on Thursday evening and host Union University in an ESPN3 contest. It will also be white-out night in Walker Arena and some 1,000 white T-shirts and 1,000 towels will be distributed.
