The Lee men's basketball team used balanced scoring and tough defense in grounding the Auburn Montgomery Warhawks, 73-60 on Saturday night in Walker Arena.
The Flames led from start to finish thanks to Ryan Montgomery who had 14 points and seven rebounds while attacking the hoop all night long and drawing 10 fouls. Colton Belvins added 14 points and six rebounds while Cody Jones hit four triples and finished with 14 as well.
Junior point guard Parker Sueduekum dished off eight assists and had several acrobatic finishes at the rim late in the second half to help the Flames pull away. The Brentwood native finished with 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field. Freshman Quay Kennedy added 10 points to give place all five starters in double-figures.
"I thought we shared the basketball really well tonight and Ryan was aggressive and attacking which set the tone. Parker was great and got us into our offense with eight assists and made some big plays," said head coach Bubba Smith. "Defensively we played well enough to win the game."
The Flames shot 49 percent from the field and were 10 of 21 from the 3-point line. The Lee defense allowed AUM to hit just 35 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc.
Darrion Taylor led the Alabama club with 19 points. Aaron Reddick added 16 points and nine rebounds and Stanley Davis chipped in 10 points.
Lee improves to 13-12 and 10-7 in the GSC. The win, coupled with West Florida's loss to Mississippi College means the Flames have clinched their second straight berth in the GSC Tournament. The Warhawks fall to 7-18 and 3-14 in league play.
"You have to play with confidence at this level if you are going to have success," said Smith. "We need to play with this same energy and confidence as we head into the final three games and postseason play. We look forward to the challenge on Thursday. Union is a physical team, much improved from the first time we played them so we will need to be ready for a battle."
Coach Smith's club will fight for seeding over the remaining three regular season games, beginning on Thursday in Walker Arena against rival Union. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.
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