CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Lee University men's basketball team used a strong shotting first half to pull away from Lindsey Wilson College in the final game of 2022. The Flames made ten of their first 12 shots and pulled away. The Flames were led by six different players in double figures with Beyuan Hendricks and Jayce Willingham with 12 points apiece. Lee shot 63.2% from the floor in the game and made 13 three point shots.
The Flames came out firing with four different players hitting a three in the first four minutes. Beyuan Hendricks and PJay Smith also hit a couple of difficult layups to give Lee a 19-9 lead and force a timeout from the Blue Raiders. Lee continued to make shots as they made 10 of the first 12 shots to push the lead out to 25-16 with 12 minutes left in the first half.
The Blue Raiders then went on a 6-0 run to cut into the lead making five free throws in the process. But the Flames had an answer as Smith led a 10-0 run for the Flames and pushed the lead back out to a 19 point lead. In his first action of the season, Michael McGuirk had five early points and made the lead 44-25 for the Flames forcing another timeout from Lindsey-Wilson.
Lee kept pushing the lead in the first half and ended the first period on another 10-0 run thanks to a couple of buckets from Makhi McGuire and Noah Boler. The Flames were 18-for-25 from the floor in the first half for 72% and were 6-for-9 for 66.7% from three point arc in the first half. Lee also outrebounded the Blue Raiders in the first 20 minutes 19-6.
The Flames picked right back up in the second where they left off making their first four shots pushing the lead out to 63-29. Lee added another 15-0 run over four and half minutes and made it a 71-29 lead. 11 different players scored for the Flames in the contest with six in double figures.
Head Coach Bubba Smith knew this was a good tune up game after the Christmas break. "The pace LWC played with today was what we needed to prepare for West Georgia. This game got us better in a lot of areas. Our defense was very good the last four minutes of the first half as we only allowed four points. Today's game got the rust off but didn't wear us out. The guys didn't relax in the second half and kept the pressure up. Our rebounding was very good pulling. down 17 more than Lindsey-Wilson. We shot 71% in the first half and we were very selfless today."
Lee out rebounded the Blue Raiders 37-18 and had 44 points in the paint to 12 for LWC. The Flames also had 17 assists to just 12 turnovers in the win.
Lee will remain at home and open 2023 at home. They will host the University of West Georgia on Monday, January 2 at 8 PM at Walker Arena.
