CARROLLTON, Georgia – Led by 6-foot-10 center Luka Majstorovic, Embry-Riddle University overcame a 10-point Lee University lead late in the second half and posted an 82-76 win in the second day of the GSC/SSC Challenge on Saturday afternoon.
The event was hosted by the University of West Georgia and Lee's basketball team finished 1-1 after defeating Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday afternoon. The Flames will return to Walker Arena and host Brescia University on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. "We look forward to opening up at home," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith.
Majstorovic fought through foul problems to tally 23 points and hit 9-of-11 free throws. The Eagles marched to the line 30 times and converted 27. Charity tosses and turnovers proved costly for the Flames. They turned the basketball over 18 times to just 12 for Embry-Riddle.
"I thought we put them on the line too many times down the stretch and had some costly mistakes that led to easy points," pointed out Coach Smith.
Romeo Crouch also played a key role in the Eagle win. He converted 10-of-10 free throws and joined Elijah Jenkins with a combination of six 3-pointers. Crouch had 23 points and Jenkins 18.
Lee was led again by Ryan Montgomery with 24 points. He was 9-of-14 from the field. Quay Kennedy followed with 12. Josh Lowe pulled down 10 rebounds to go with eight points. The Flames lost the battle of the boards 34-33.
Freshman Beyuan Hendricks came off the bench to tally nine points. Red-shirt freshman Jayce Willingham gave the Flames a spark before going down with an ankle injury midway of the final period. He had eight points and canned 4-of-4 freebies. Kentrell (Duke) Evans dished off four assists to go with his six points and Parker Suedekum added three assists.
Lee again shot 55 percent from the field (30-of-55). The Flames made a solid 14-of-18 free throws and out-scored the bigger Eagles in the paint 54-30. Turnovers led to 20 Embry-Riddle points while Lee countered with just 10. The Eagles also had 19 fast-break points to 12 for the Flames. Lee used nine players and eight contributed in the scoring and rebounding department.
"I thought we did some really good things this weekend. We led for all but 13 minutes in both games and had plenty of chances against Embry-Riddle to finish the game. We had some great looks down the stretch that just didn't go in," Coach Smith explained. "We have a lot to learn and some really positives things we will take out of this opening weekend. I thought our guys played really hard and competed in both games."
