CARROLLTON, Ga. – Behind 18 points from freshman Beyuan Hendricks the Lee men's basketball team made it nine straight victories knocking off West Georgia, 80-73 on Thursday night.
The winning streak is the longest since joining the NCAA in 2015. Lee won eight straight last season.
The Flames overcame a nine-point halftime deficit (41-32) to take the down Wolves as Hendricks knocked down the go-ahead triple with 1:23 left and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds on 6 of 8 shooting from the field.
"I thought our guys showed a lot of fight in the second half. We weren't our best, but UWG had a lot to do with that. They are really talented and have just been on the wrong end of a number of close gamesI thought our small lineup in the second half was really good for us. It allowed Ryan to get going, and our other guards got really aggressive," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith.
Fresh off GSC Player of the Week honors, senior Ryan Montgomery led all-scorers with 21 points, hitting 11 of 12 from the free-throw line. Quay Kennedy posted 13 points and Kentrell "Duke" Evans tallied 10. Josh Lowe registered eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Flames shot 60 percent from the field (15 of 25) and were 15 of 17 from the foul line in the second half to aid the comeback effort. For the game the Flames connected on 48 percent from the field and 88 percent (20 of 26) from the charity stripe.
Kovi Tate led the Wolves with a double-double performance of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Kadeim Jones added 19 points, 11 of those coming at the foul line. Seth Brown-Carter (14) and Michael Zabetakis (12) gave the home team four-players in double-figures.
After shooting 51 percent from the field (16 of 31) in the first half the Lee defense buckled down in the second half and limited West Georgia to just 38 percent shooting. The perimeter defense from the Flames made life difficult for the Wolves all night long as they shot just 3 of 14 from beyond the arc.
"We were a little flat in the first half, but I thought Parker (Suedekum) set the tone early in the second, and made some great effort plays that got our team engaged," added Smith. The senior point guard finished with eight points, five assists and four boards. "When we had to get stops and make plays under the four minute media, we did and that's how we've been able to close out these one and two possession games. Proud of the fight our guys showed."
The Flames received votes in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 poll for the first time as members of the NCAA this past week. Lee improves to 11-3 overall and 6-1 in the GSC while West Georgia falls to 4-10 and 2-4 in league play.
The Flames will return home on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. for a GSC showdown with No. 13 Alabama Huntsville. The Chargers have a five-game winning streak of their own after a 90-77 win over Shorter on Thursday.
