A pair of newcomers to the Lee program stepped up to nail key free throws in the final minute to help the Flames hold off a late charge by West Florida and post a hard-earned 66-64 victory on Monday evening in Walker Arena.
 
Sophomore Cody Jones, a transfer from Sewanee, hit 4-of-5 charity tosses and freshman Parker Suedekum hit a key free throw in the final seconds to keep the pressure squarely on the visiting Argonauts.
 
However, it was the 3-point shooting of Jervon Johnson that allowed the Flames to move out to a nine-point lead late in the second half and end a four-game losing streak. Johnson hit 6-of-11 treys and also countered with a 3-point play the old fashioned way in finishing the contest with his best effort of the season, 23 points.
 
The victory gave Lee coach Bubba Smith his 200^th coaching win.  "A lot of long years to get here but it's really just always been about the kids for me," said the coach. "I'm thankful for our guys being able to get the win tonight. It's great to get this one and now we're ready to move onto to Christian Brothers."
 
"I'm proud of our guys and I'm really happy for them because they've stuck with the process even though we've had some tough results recently," said Smith with a big smile after his Flames improved to 3-4 in the GSC and 7-6 overall. "Jervon got off to quick start and shot the ball well throughout the game and that really rallied our team."
 
Jones finished the evening with 11 points and seven rebounds. Keevin Tyus knocked down 10 of his 15 points in the first half in allowing the Flames to send the contest into the break tied at 30. Tyus also posted another double-double with 10 rebounds.
 
It was a total rebounding effort by the Flames against a very tall and athletic West Florida club. Lee out-rebounded the Argonauts 39-36 with Ryan Montgomery pulling down five boards and Johnson picking up four.
 
While the rebounding was a factor, Lee's defense played a key role in slowing the West Florida offensive attack. "We were a little unconventional going to about 35 minutes of a zone defense tonight for the first time all year," said Coach Smith. "We knew we needed to force them to have to make some shots and I think the zone did its job tonight and that's a credit to our guys to be able to execute that change in such a short period of time."
 
The Lee defense held West Florida to only 32 percent shooting from the field and just 24 percent from 3-point range. The Argos did go to the charity stripe 27 times and convert 20. On the other hand, Lee shot 41 percent from the field and made 9-of-28 3-point attempts. They were awarded 21 free throws and canned 15. West Florida turned the basketball over seven times and Lee was guilty of 13 floor mistakes.
 
West Florida was paced by 14 points by Daryl Tucker, who also had nine rebounds. Jason Laatsch pitched in with 12 and Marvin Jones finished with 10. The Flames held West Florida's leading scorer Austin Somerfield to only eight points.
 
Lee returns to action on Thursday facing another tough challenge when they travel to Memphis to face Christian Brothers. The second leg of the road trip circles back to Jackson, Tenn. and a match with long-time rival Union University on Saturday.