JACKSON, Tenn. – The Lee men's basketball team held off a furious second half comeback from Union University to claim a 74-68 Gulf South Conference victory on Thursday evening.

The game was aired on ESPN.com as a part of the Division II Showcase Game of the Week and the Flames came on fire quieting the capacity home crowd with 10 3-pointers to take a 46-26 lead into halftime.

The dazzling shooting display was capped off by an off-balance deep three by Quay Kennedy at the buzzer. Union's Tyree Boykin scored an incredible 24 of his team's 26 first half points. Boykin, the GSC leading scorer, ended with a game-high 31.

At the start of the second half it was Union's turn to heat up from deep as it connected on three straight triples and cut the lead down to three at 52-49 with a 23-6 run with 14:57 in the game.

The Flames extended the lead back out to 10 and withstood another late run by the pesky Bulldogs to hold on the victory with late foul shots from Kentrell Evans and Ryan Montgomery.

"I think we showed some toughness tonight by withstanding their run in the second half but not folding," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "This was obviously a big game with playoff implications, national audience and a great crowd so finding a way to hold in the end says a lot about our guys and their determination. We've been getting off to such slow starts that it was refreshing to see us play really the best half of basketball we've played all season. We made some shots but defensively we buckled down and other than Boykin they couldn't get anything going in the first half."

Montgomery led Lee with 16 points and pulled down six rebounds. Parker Suedekum added 13 points and seven rebounds while Kennedy tallied 12 and had five rebounds. Jason Landman continued his solid play off the bench with 10 points and five rebounds.

Despite going 10 of 14 from the 3-point line in the first half Lee cooled to just 1 of 11 in the second half. For the game the Flames were 25 of 54 (46.3 percent). Lee held off the Bulldogs cashing in 13 of 14 from the foul line.

Terrandus Smith scored all 11 of his points in the second half and had six rebounds and four assists for Union. Cooper Meadows registered eight points and five rebounds.

After shooting just 26 percent in the first half the Bulldogs improved to 52 percent in the second half and were 24 of 61 (39 percent) for the game.

"After tough battle like this it will be nice to get a Saturday off again to catch our breath and get ready for two rivalry road trips next week before starting postseason play," concluded Smith.

The win moves the Flames to 20-5 on the year and 15-3 in the GSC. Lee is ranked No. 3 in the first NCAA South Region Standings and reaches the 20-win milestone for the first time since joining the NCAA. The loss drops Union to 17-9 and 11-7 in the league.

The regular season concludes the for the Flames next week with trips to Shorter on Thursday and Alabama Huntsville on Saturday. With the win Lee is assured of hosting the GSC Quarterfinal Game on Tuesday, Mar. 3.