MONTEVALLO, Ala. – The No. 25 Lee men's basketball team jumped out to a 16-2 lead and never looked back in a dominating 70-55 victory at Montevallo to complete the weekend sweep of the Falcons on Saturday afternoon.
The Flames defense made life miserable for the Falcons in an 18-point first half limiting the home team to just 9 of 32 shooting. For the game Lee held Montevallo to 35 percent shooting while connecting on 48 percent.
Noah Boler, fresh off eight blocks in Friday's victory, led the way with a double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds. He also swatted away three more shots. Quay Kennedy added 12 points and nine boards while Jayce Willingham, Beyuan Hendricks and Makhi McGuire all tallied nine points each.
"This was a really big weekend for our team. Montevallo had been playing well coming into this weekend and we were going to have to compete for 80 minutes to get two," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith.
The Falcons cut a 12-point halftime deficit down to five with 16:38 remaining in the second half but would pull no closer as the Flames used a 7-0 run over the next two minutes on a layup by Boler, 3-pointer by Trey Daughton and jumper by Hendricks. The lead eventually ballooned all the way to 20 on a Willingham layup with 3:25 left in the contest.
"Today they made a run and cut it to five and our guys responded with a run and extended it back to double digits. Montevallo has a knack for staying in every game, so we knew we couldn't relax," Smith said.
In addition to stingy defense the Flames dominated the glass, holding a commanding 41-27 edge in rebounds. Lee posted 10 second-chance points with nine offensive boards.
Xavier Malcom led the Falcons with 13 points. James McNeil and Braxton Bertolette had nine points each while Shannon Woody registered seven points and seven boards in 18 minutes of work.
"On the weekend as a whole we competed defensively, and I thought our guys played extremely unselfish. A number of things we've been talking about the last two weeks began to show up this weekend," noted Smith. "We had a connected group fighting for one another and having some fun, even when things didn't go well and certain points of the game."
The Flames have enjoyed life on the road this season as they improve to 8-2 in road games and 11-4 overall. The Falcons drop to 6-7 on the season.
"For some reason this team enjoys playing on the road. We need a road mentality when we return to Walker Arena on Friday," concluded Smith.
The Flames will wrap up the regular season on Friday and Saturday as they host Auburn Montgomery. Lee defeated the Warhawks in the Gulf South Conference Quarterfinals last year and will look to cement one of the top seeds in this year's tournament with a strong finish next weekend.
