Birmingham, Ala. - The Lee men's basketball team saw a successful season come to an end on Saturday evening in the GSC Semifinals, falling to the Union Bulldogs 67-63.

GSC Freshman of the Year PJay Smith led the Flames with 19 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the 3-point line. Beyuan Hendricks added 12 points and Quay Kennedy finished a fantastic four-year career with 10 points and eight rebounds. 

Shots were tough to come by for the Flames as they finished 25 of 70 from the field (35 percent) and 9 of 27 (33 percent) from deep. Union struggled to find the basket in the first half, shooting just 36 percent but improved to 12 of 25 (48 percent) in the second half. 

The Flames started out hot in the second half as they opened on a 7-2 run over the first two minutes. From there it was a back and forth battle until a cold streak saw Lee go five minutes without a bucket after a Beyuan Hendricks floater made it 50-49 Lee with 8:33 remaining in the contest. Union would go on an 11-0 run from there to tak ea 60-50 lead wiht 3:38 left. Smith ended the draught with a pull up jumper with 3:23 left.

Lee battled to get it back within five at 62-57 on triple by Smith but Union hit foul shots down the stretch to put the game away. The Bulldogs held a big advantage at the line cashing in 14 of 18 while Lee shot just four foul shots.

"I'm really proud of our guys for how they competed tonight and all season long," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "It's group of talented players but even better men. Our seniors Quay and Jason helped to continue to build a winning culture within our program and we will certainly miss them."

Smith went on to compliment the Bulldogs, "I thought they played with more urgency tonight, particularly in the first half and kind of forced to play their style of game. They have been one of the top teams in our league all year and we knew this would be a challenge tonight."

Tyree Boykin led the Bulldogs with 18 points while Jeremiah Littlepage posted a double-double with 13 and 11. Hunter Vick followed with 12 points and canned a pair of 3-pointers. 

The Flames end the season at 19-9 after winning six straight games heading into the semifinal battle with Union. The Bulldogs improve to 23-7 and will advance to the program's first GSC Championship game tomorrow against Alabama Huntsville.