FLORENCE, Ala. – Jason Landman delivered the game winning bucket with just two seconds on the clock to give the Lee men's basketball team an early Christmas gift with an 81-79 road victory against North Alabama.
Levi Woods, playing after sitting out the previous two contests with an injury, tied things up at 79 with a jumper with only 36 seconds left on the clock. The Flames got a big defense stop and Bryce Copeland secured the rebound to help set up Landman's game winner.
Landman finished with a career-high 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds. The freshman was 9 of 12 from the field and showcased his range by converting 4 of 5 3-pointers.
"We talked about playing with poise and confidence and I thought we did a tremendous job of that tonight especially coming off a difficult game just a few nights ago against Huntsville," said head coach Bubba Smith. "I thought Jason played great game and really did a nice job against their physical post players. He was certainly up for the challenge and delivered in a big way for us."
Ryan Montgomery delivered a double-double performance in the winning effort with 12 points and 17 rebounds. Parker Sudekum added 11 points and dished off seven assists. Michael McGuirk chipped in 10 points in the first half to get the Flames going early.
"Ryan played well tonight and we really got a lift from Levi being back in the lineup," added Smith. "Bryce gave us really good minutes and just brings such a toughness to our play. I thought the zone defense worked well in the second for us and we were able to get some stops and crucial moments. I was really proud of the effort on the last defense possession as we switched back to man and showed a lot of toughness to get the last stop and then get the ball in deep to Landman for the game winner."
The Flames finished shooting 51.6 percent from the field and canned 10 triples on the night. After not attempting a foul shot in the first half Lee went 7 of 10 in the final 20 minutes.
Kendall Swafford led the Lions with a game-high 26 points and was on fire from beyond the arc hitting 7 of 8. Adrian Smith added 14 points and Jeff Hodge tallied 11 to go along with five rebounds.
The Lions went 28 of 65 (43.1 percent) from the field and hit 11 of 26 from deep (42.3 percent). North Alabama struggled at the charity stripe however as they cashed in just 12 of 22.
The victory moves the Flames to 8-3 and 3-1 in the GSC while the loss drops the Lions 7-4 and an even 2-2 in league play. The Flames are now 3-6 all-time against the Lions and win for the first time in Flowers Hall, on the campus of UNA.
After taking two weeks off to celebrate the Christmas holiday Lee will return home on Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. for a GSC showdown with Valdosta State.
