CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Lee University men's basketball team needed another second half comeback to defeat the Delta State University Statesmen on Friday night. After trailing by as many as 17 points in the contest, the Flames outscored Delta State 45-28 in the second half to win by a final score of 73-65. PJay Smith led the second half comeback with 16 points in the final 20 minutes on his way to tying a career high with 19 points.
The Flames took and early 3-1 lead but then went cold from the field and DSU went on a 8-0 run over a five minute stretch to take a 9-3 lead. Noah Boler finally made a layup to stop the drought. Delta State then answered with another 7-0 run. They pushed the lead over to 18-6 with ten minutes left in the first half.
Delta State made four of the first seven attempts from the three point arc and pushed the lead out to 27-12. The Flames struggled shooting most of the first half. Josh Lowe made back-to-back buckets for the Flames but DSU led by as many as 17 points in the half. Over the last 3:25, the Flames finally got shots to fall. Jalen Page, PJay Smith, and Beyuan Hendricks all hit three point shots to go on a 12-4 run to end the first half.
The Flames struggled to shoot in the first half. Only making nine shots but did make four of the their last six shots to close the deficit. Delta State was 57% from the floor in the first half. The Statesmen were 4-for-8 from the three point arc while Lee was 3-for-10 in the first half.
DSU scored the first two buckets of the half but then Smith hit a jump shot for the Flames and then stole the inbound pass and scored on a layup to cut the lead down to 41-34. DSU stretched the lead back out to 11 points before Jayce Willingham and Smith took Lee on a 6-0 run and cut the deficit to 49-45. The Flames then went on another 6-2 run and tied the game at 51-51. The two teams traded buckets until two free throws from Willingham gave Lee the 57-56 lead. It was the first lead from the Flames since it was 3-1 with 17:51 in the first half.
Boler blocked a shot then on a fastbreak for the Flames found Willingham and gave Lee a 64-61 lead. After another DSU bucket, Hendricks stole a pass and gave Lee a 68-63 lead which was their largest of the game. Hendricks iced the game with 56 seconds left when he hit a three point shot to make it 71-65 game. Wililngham added two more free throws to seal the win 73-65.
Head Coach Bubba Smith knew it would be a battle. "We were a little flat in the first half. We were great defensively until the last seconds of the shot clock. Delta State makes you be very patient defensively and we had some lapses in the first half. They controlled the tempo and they hit some tough shots. We were also not that aggressive in the first twenty minutes. That changed in the second half. We were much more aggressive and got to the free throw line. We were the tougher team in the second half. Beyuan was great down the stretch.. When the game is on the line he steps up. We have one more tough matchup before the Christmas break on Sunday.
The Flames forced DSU to be 0-8 from the three point line in the second half while they were 5-9. Maalik Cartwright had a game high 22 points for DSU while Sam Smith had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Statesmen. The Flames had three guys score in double figures. Smith had 19, WIllinham had 17 and Hendricks had 15. This was the third win in a row where the Flames had to make a second half comeback to earn a victory.
Lee will stay at home and host Mississippi College on Sunday, December 18 at 4 PM at Walker Arena in the final contest before the Christmas break.
