Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Lee men's basketball team started slow and could never recover in dropping its season opener, 79-66 to the West Florida Argonauts on Saturday afternoon.

The Argonauts played at a frenetic pace throughout the contest and were led by 30 points and 10 rebounds from Tarik McKelphin. The guard was 12 of 21 from the field as West Florida played an up-tempo style from the opening tip.

After trailing 37-31 at the half the Flames scored five quick points coming out of the break on a layups from Quay Kennedy and Michael McGuirk. Kennedy would then deliver a steal on the defensive end draw a foul on a Fastbreak. The junior split a pair at the foul line to bring Lee within one but that is as close as they would get.

"Tonight, looked like a first game in many ways," lamented fifth-year head coach Bubba Smith. "We're disappointed because we have higher expectations for how we need to compete defensively and our ability to be hard to guard offensively. Credit to Jeff (Burkhamer, West Florida Head Coach) and his guys. They were tougher and executed better than we did tonight and deserved to win."

Red-shirt freshman Mahki McGuire came off the bench and provided a first half spark for a sputtering Flames offense with 12 points and three triples. McGuire led all Lee scorers with 20 points and added seven boards and five assists for a solid collegiate debut.

Junior Michael McGuirk, who missed most of last season due to injury, posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Jayce Willingham added 13 points and grabbed seven boards and Kennedy pitched in 12 and five rebounds.

"I thought we had too many guys pressing early and settling for shots that we could have gotten at any point later in the possession," said Smith. "We showed some fight and competed in spurts, but not nearly consistent enough for winning basketball."

West Florida held off the Flames comeback attempts with extended defensive pressure away from the basket filled with full-court traps and presses throughout the contest. The Argonauts opened their biggest lead of the game, 58-40 on a jumper from Michael Maumbe with 11:47 remaining in the game and did not allow the margin to dip below double-digits the rest of the way home.

The Flames showed some rust from the nine-month layoff in the first half as they converted just 29.4 percent from the field. For the game, Lee was held to 32.8 percent (20 of 61) and just 22.2 percent (6 of 27) from beyond the arc. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe with Lee converting 62.5 and the Argonauts cashing in on just 59.3 percent.

The rebounding battle was nearly even with West Florida holding a 45-43 edge on the glass. Both teams dished off 14 assists. The Flames were guilty of 11 turnovers while the home team committed 12.

The Flames will have a week off to regroup after their game with Shorter on Wednesday was postponed. Lee will welcome the No. 16 Valdosta State Blazers to Walker Arena next Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff. The Blazers survived a scare from West Georgia winning their opener, 62-60.

"Typically, teams can make a lot of progress from the first game to the second. We will have to do so in order to be ready for next weekend," concluded Smith.