JACKSON, Tenn. – The Lee University men's basketball team saw there eight game winning streak come to an end on Saturday afternoon as the Flames fell to Union University 61-54.  The Flames only managed to shoot 33% in the loss and were 8-29 from the three point arc as well.
 
Union jumped out early to a 5-1 lead. behind two fouls from Josh Lowe. The Flames settled in and went on a 6-0 run to take a 7-5 lead. Union answered with three straight three point shots to take a 14-9 lead with 12:04 and forced a timeout from Lee. Both teams only managed to score two points over the next four minutes. 
 
After another media timeout, both teams started to make shots. Jayce Willingham scored five straight points for the Flames to bring the deficit down to 19-22. Flames couldn't get any closer though as Union pushed the lead out to 30-24 at the halftime break. Willingham led the Flames at the break with 13 points. No other Lee player had more than three points at the break.
 
Willingham hit the opening jumper of the second half before the Flames missed three shots from the three point arc in a row. Neither team was once again able to get any offense going as a combined for eight points in the first four minutes of the half. After the media timeout, Michael McGuirk came out shooting for the Flames. He scored eight straight points for Lee hitting two three point shots. His bucket gave Lee the 38-36 lead. It was the first lead since it was 9-8 and forced a timeout from the Bulldogs. Noah Boler hit his first three of the game on the next possession and made it 41-36. It was Boler's first three of the season and capped a 8-0 run from the Flames over 2:30.
 
Union then answered with a three point and then McGuirk was called for a flop. Union hit the free throw and another bucket and took a 42-41 lead. The Bulldogs extended the lead to 44-41 before Beyuan Hendricks hit a deep three to tie it at 44-44. The game then turned into one of mini runs. Union scored five straight points and then Lee answered with five points to tie it a 51-51 with 3:35 on the clock and did not score another point until the final shot of the game in the 61-54 loss.
 
Head Coach Bubba Smith was disappointed with the  loss. "We didn't play for all 40 minutes today. We didn't shoot the ball well enough. We didn't get enough second chance opportunities. Anytime we thought we got a stop they got a rebound and a putback. It wasn't like Union shot the lights out, they just hustled more and got way more points in the paint. A lot of things to learn and that's the good thing."
 
The Flames were outrebounded in the game 44-27 and Union had 36 points in the paint to just 16 for the Flames. Willingham led the Flames with 15 points while Hendricks had 12 and McGuirk had 10. Smith had seven points, nine rebounds, and five assists.
 
Lee will return home to Cleveland and will host the university of West Florida on Thursday, January 12 at 8 PM at Walker Arena.