It wasn't easy but the Lee men's basketball team punched its ticket to the GSC Semifinals for the second straight year with a 66-63 victory over West Alabama on Tuesday night in Walker Arena.

Michael McGuirk hit two clutch free throws with six seconds left and the Flames contested a last second triple to seal the win. Lee held a seemingly comfortable nine-point lead with 1:17 remaining before the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to pull within one with 11 ticks left to make the home crowd a little uneasy before Noah Boler and McGuirk cashed in at the foul line.

Quay Kennedy, the GSC East Player of the Week, sparked the Flames after West Alabama's lone 3-pointer gave the Tigers their only lead at 49-47 with 6:19 remaining in the game. After a Tiger's timeout Kennedy drilled a jumper to tie things up, Beyuan Hendricks got inside and converted an old-fashion 3-point play before Kennedy came back to connect on a triple with 4:35 remaining and came up with a steal to set up a Tariq Daughton jumper to take a 57-51 lead into the under four media timeout.

"I thought Mike (McGuirk) really set the tone for us from a physical and toughness standpoint," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "We were able to make the plays down the stretch and hold on. West Alabama is a tough team to put away. They trapped and pressed us into some turnovers to climb back into it. They won a game with a big come back over Delta earlier in the year in a similar situation so we knew we knew it was going to be a challenge to finish the game off."

Kennedy ended with 19 points on 7 of 10 from the field. Hendricks added 13 to go along with four assists. McGuirk poured in 11 and grabbed eight rebounds. Noah Boler came off the bench to put in nine points and two steals. For the game Lee shot 52.2 percent (24 of 46).

"Big time players make plays on the big stage and Quay showed why he was the GSC East Player of the Year tonight," said Smith. "West Alabama made a run there at about the six minute mark but Quay settled us down with a couple of big baskets and energy and effort on the defensive end.

Kortrijk Miles led the Tigers with a game-high 24 points and six rebounds. Robert Davis added nine points and seven rebounds as he played the full forty minutes. West Alabama shot 25 of 54 from the field but were just 1 of 11 (9.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

"Games like tonight and last Saturday can really build confidence and I think having the pressure of being down four with under a minute left on Saturday and winning helped us to handle the pressure of this late game situation," noted Smith. "We look forward to the challenge of heading down to Huntsville on Friday. We had some great battles with them last year and we know we're going to need to play well to come away with a victory."

The win moves the Flames to 14-4 on the year. The loss ends the Tigers season at 8-6.

The Flames will travel to No. 11 Alabama Huntsville on Friday night for a GSC Semifinal showdown with the Chargers at 8 p.m.