A game that started as a defensive battle quickly turned to fast break dunks and a fired-up Walker Arena crowd as the Lee men's basketball team ran past Auburn Montgomery, 74-60 on Saturday afternoon.
 
In the first half, the crowd saw the Flames defense bear down with suffocating ball pressure and collapsing defenders in the paint. Lee defenders shut down the perimeter in the half, holding AUM to 0 for 6 from behind the arc and 32 percent shooting from the field.
 
"It may be the best defensive effort we've had all year… I was really proud of how our guys contested. More importantly, how our guys helped each other," Coach Bubba Smith said post game.
 
Michael McGuirk knocked down a couple of threes in the first half from the short corner – something he's done many times in his career as a Flame. His eight points led the squad in the first 20 minutes.
 
The Flames entered the halftime break with a 31-19 lead, and both teams came out for the second half trading buckets. The conference rivals went blow for blow before the first media timeout.
 
AUM cut the Flames' lead to 7 with 13 minutes to play before Beyuan Hendricks knocked down two straight jumpers for a personal 5-0 run.
 
The game turned after a Noah Boler deflection on the defensive end, the big man began to run the floor. Jalen Page led the fast break, found Quay Kennedy, who threw the alley-oop to Boler for the slam. It certainly was one of the loudest moments of the season in Walker Arena.
 
"Man, our crowd was great tonight. We just have fun when we play with energy out there," Michael McGuirk said.

 A couple of possessions later, Makhi McGuire threw down a one-handed tomahawk slam catapulting Lee to an 11-0 run. The Flames would never trail the rest of the game.
 
McGuirk had 12 of his 20 in the second half. He knocked down a couple key triples, converted and-one opportunities, and swatted two shots on the defensive end. Kennedy added 14 points, six rebounds and dished off five assists. Beyuan Hendricks made it three straight games in double-figures with 10 points to go along with four assists.

"I think we're hitting our stride right at the right time," McGuirk said. "We've got some big conference games coming up, and we've just got to finish strong."
 
Isaiah Hart played the full 40 minutes and led AUM with 22 points. James Graham added a double-double with 19 points and 13 rebounds.
 
The Flames improve to 8-1 on their home court this season and move to 13-6 overall and 9-4 in the GSC with their third straight win. The loss drops the Warhawks to 8-14 and 5-9 in league play.

"We've been good at home – we've got great support, and today was another day of that. Our fans, and the community showing up – we're super appreciative of that. It's a huge piece to our success."

Fans will get a chance to continue showing up on Wednesday as the Flames battle familiar conference foe West Georgia in Walker Arena.