Coach Bubba Smith will be looking to find ways to get his Flames burning hotter in the first half of GSC action on Friday and Sunday. Lee struggled to put points on the board in the early going in wins over Auburn Montgomery and Shorter but exploded for 50 points in the second 40 minutes of each game. The Flames have won five of their last six starts and enter Friday's contest (8 p.m. tip) with Delta State with a 5-2 conference and overall records. The Statesmen bring a deceiving 1-9, 0-5 chart to town. The pre-Christmas schedule concludes on Sunday at 4 p.m. when Mississippi College, 7-4, 4-4 visits Walker Arena.
"We are looking forward to the challenges of two tough teams in Delta State and Mississippi College this weekend," said coach Smith. "Delta State is playing much better, especially with their leading-scorer healthy and back off injury. They've gotten better each game these last couple of weeks and took a tough West Alabama team to overtime last Sunday. Mississippi College is coming off a convincing win over UAH last Sunday. They have guards that can score, athleticism, and one of the best men in the GSC. They also are one of the best defensive teams in the conference. We will have to play a complete game on Sunday."
Balanced Attack Leading Offense
Led by senior Jayce Willingham (18 ppg) and 53% shooting from the field. Willingham is fifth in the GSC in scoring. The Flames have four players hitting the double-digit mark. PJay Smith is averaging 12 ppg and is leading the team from his guard position with over seven rebounds per outing. Makhi McGuire cans a solid 45% of his field goal attempts and stands at an even 11 ppg, while Beyuan Hendricks rounds out the double figures at 10.3 ppg. Smith is also the assist leader over the first seven games with 28 and Hendricks has 26.
Eying the Statistics
The Flames average 73 ppg and allow 64. Coach Smith always stresses defense, and it shows in the stats. However, the coach will be pushing his team harder on rebounding where the Flames are on the negative side, 32-36.
Noah Boler has given his club a needed spark over the past two games. His rebounding, shot blocking, hustle and defense in general has garnered the attention of Coach Smith and his staff. As a result, the 6-foot-8 red-shirt junior has quickly earned more playing time. Eight Flames have seen action in all seven games, 10 have appeared in at least five, and nine have seen double-digit minutes, showing the depth of the 2022-23 squad.
GSC'S Top Individuals in Action
Maalik Cartwright has started only five of Delta State's 10 games this season but the talented 6-foot-6 junior forward is averaging 18 ppg and over seven rebounds. In an overtime loss to West Alabama he tallied 24 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Coach Mike Nienaber, who is in his second year at DSU after moving from Christian Brothers, used only seven players against UWA and Wyatt Bell and Kelen Dierich played all 45 minutes.
Mississippi College's Tradavis Thompson was the headline claimer in his team's 92-62 romp over Alabama Huntsville last Sunday. The junior broke a Choctaw school record by hitting nine three-point shots. He tallied 47 points in claiming the Gulf South Conference Player of the Week honors. Thompson has now made 20 points or more in six games this season and his 20.1 ppg average is tops in the GSC. He also shoots over 50% from 3-point range, tops in the conference. Thompson's teammate Galen Smith paces the conference in field goal percentage, 63%. Smith is a big man, 6-foot-9, 240 pounds and averages over 15 ppg.
Checking GSC Standings
West Georgia will take a 6-0 record into a home contest with Alabama-Huntsville on Thursday and the Wolves must travel to West Alabama on Sunday. Union is at 5-1 and will host Montevallo and AUM this weekend. West Alabama is 5-2 and Huntsville also stood at 5-2 entering the date at West Georgia. Lee (5-2) is followed by Valdosta and Mississippi College (4-4), Montevallo and AUM (3-4), West Florida (2-5), Christian Brothers (1-5), Shorter (1-6) and Delta State (1-7).
