Kentrell Evans led four Lee University players into double-digit scoring as the Flames defeated Tennessee Wesleyan University 74-55 in an exhibition contest Saturday afternoon at Paul Dana Walker Arena.
Evans was 7-for-12 from the floor and made 3-of-4 from behind the arc on his way to a game-high 17 points. Quay Kennedy was also 7-for-12 with two 3-pointers to tally 16 points. Parker Suedekum and Ryan Montgomery rounded out the top Lee scorers with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Evans also dished out seven of Lee's 20 assists. Montgomery added four and Kennedy had two assists. Kennedy led the Lee defense with three blocked shots.
The Bulldogs held a slight 36-33 advantage on the boards. Josh Lowe pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Flames, while TWU's Ty Patterson led all players with 10.
Overall, Lee was 32-for-62 (.516) from the field and were 10-for-22 (.455) from distance. TWU connected on 21-of-59 shots (.356), including just 6-of-21 (.286) from beyond the arc.
TWU held an early 11-5 lead with just under five minutes off the clock, but the Flames outscored the visitors 35-8 the rest of the half to hold a 40-19 advantage at the break.
"We were hoping that we would have moments that we played really well, but we also also wanted to experience some adversity," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "In the first half, after about the first four minutes, our guys settled in and started making shots. I thought defensively we were really good the last 16 minutes of the half."
Lee forced TWU into turning the ball over 22 times, while committing 17 floor mistakes of their own. The Flames turned the TWU turnovers into 22 points. The Bulldogs posted 13 points off turnovers.
"Our goal is to learn from this game. We'll come back on Monday, get back to work and see how much we can improve one day at a time heading into next week," Smith added.
The Flames begin regular season play this coming weekend in the GSC/SSC Challenge in Carrollton, Georgia. Lee takes on Palm Beach Atlantic University on Friday at 5:30 p.m. before challenging Embry-Riddle (Fla.) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
"We're excited about it because it's two close games that we lost last year. Both games went to the wire, so for our returning players I think those two games are in their memory," concluded Smith.
Embry-Riddle won 74-72 and Palm Beach Atlantic held on 86-82 in last season's GSC/SSC Challenge games in Walker Arena.
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