The Lee men's basketball team suffered a 61-57 Gulf South Conference setback to Union University on Thursday evening from Walker Arena.

Points were at a premium in the first half of the contest as the Flames held a 22-20 advantage and limited the Bulldogs to just 29.2 percent shooting from the field.

The Second half was a different story however as both teams came out of the locker scoring the basketball at will. Union hit 16 of 31 shots in the final 20 minutes and pulled away late to hand Lee a disappointing home loss with just four games remaining in the regular season and the Flames clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the GSC.

Levi Woods led the Flames with 12 points and grabbed five rebounds. Cody Jones was the only other player in double-figures as he tallied 10 points and hauled in six rebounds. Ryan Montgomery and Colton Blevins each chipped in eight points.

"You can't take teams for granted and look at records and think you can just coast by and for whatever reason we didn't have the energy we needed tonight and that's on me as a coach to make sure we are ready to play," said head coach Bubba Smith. "Give credit to Union and Dave (Niven, head coach) they made big plays and shots down the stretch and we did not."

The Flames finished shooting 42.6 percent from the field and hit 5 of 10 triples but converted just 6 of 11 foul shots. Union shot a shade under Lee at 41.8 percent in the game but did plenty of damage from 3-point distance as it canned 10 of 21.

The Bulldogs were paced by Charlie Wilson's 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Wilson was a force on the glass with four offensive rebounds. Nick Velasquez added 16 points while Tyree Boykin registered 12.

"It's on us to get better and figure it out because nobody is going to walk in here and lay down and hand us a win we have to go out and earn it," added Smith. "We are at our best when we are sharing the basketball and everybody has energy both on the floor and on the bench and I didn't think we had any of that tonight. We let circumstances like foul trouble and missed shots dictate our attitude and that has to change if we are going to be successful."

Lee currently sits at 12-11 overall and 7-9 and in eighth place in the conference standings. The win is a bright spot in what has been a difficult season for Union as the Bulldogs improve to 10-14 overall and 4-12 in league play.

The Flames will look to bounce back on Saturday as they host Christian Brothers at 4 p.m. The Bucs defeated Shorter 78-62 to improve to 18-6 and 10-6 in the GSC on Thursday. CBU defeated the Flames, 78-63 in their first meeting in Memphis back on Jan. 25.