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Needing one final defensive stop the Lee men's basketball team answered the bell to knock off previously unbeaten and No. 15 West Florida, 69-68 in a thrilling Gulf South Conference contest from Walker Arena Thursday night.

The Flames had a chance to ice the game at the foul line with nine seconds remaining and a 69-67 advantage but a couple of missed free throws kept the Argonauts alive.

West Florida's Rashaan Benson drove inside and drew contact to go to the line with a chance to tie things up with just two ticks on the clock. Benson made the first but missed the second and the Flames were able to tip the ball around just long enough to force an off balance jumper by Benson that fell short as time expired.

"I'm really proud of our guys and how they continue to respond. The next step for our team is to get more consistent so that we don't always have to bounce back," said head coach Bubba Smith. "We did things in the second half to win the game. We got stops, we out rebounded them, we took care of the ball better and we executed on offense and that's what you have to do to win close games."

Lee trailed by as many as nine points with 13:39 remaining in the second half but went on a 6-0 run keyed by a Cody Jones' three ball to climb right back into the contest.

Jones, who normally starts for the Flames, came off the bench to give his team a lift with 14 points and three rebounds. The junior scored 10 of those points in the second half to help spark the Flames comeback.

"Coming off the bench really helped me to relax and see the game before getting on the court and that settled me down tonight," said Jones after the big win. "We are a resilient team and we showed that tonight after Tuesday's tough loss. I thought we had a sense of urgency mentally tonight late in the game and we did a good job of closing out one of their really good shooters, Marvin Jones and were quick to close out DJ Thorpe on the baseline. Those are two really good players and stepping up on them defensively was key for us to win the game down the stretch."

Ryan Montgomery led the team with 15 points and pulled down nine rebounds before fouling out late in the game. Parker Suedekum followed with 12 points and dished off four assists.

Smith's club finished shooting right at 50 percent (24 of 48). Lee canned 7 of 17 triples (41 percent) and improved from Tuesday's nightmare at the foul line to hit 14 of 19 (74 percent)

Benson and Marvin Jones each scored 15 points for the Argonauts. Moter Deng added 15 points and six rebounds while DJ Thorpe tallied 13.

Lee won the battle on the glass by a 34-31 margin but West Florida forced the Flames into 20 floor mistakes and turned that into 21 points.

"That's an NCAA Tournament team we beat tonight. They are highly skilled and well coached so this was a big victory for us and we will look to ride this momentum this weekend because the road doesn't get any easier with Montevallo coming up," concluded Smith.

The win sends the Flames to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in the GSC. The Flames are currently in a tie for third in the conference standings with West Alabama. The loss drops the Argonauts to 12-1 and 4-1, they are tied for second with Christian Brothers and Valdosta State, a half-game behind front runner Delta State (5-1).

Lee will get right back to work as they continue a brutal four-game, nine-day stretch with a road trip to Montevallo on Saturday at 5 p.m.