CARROLLTON, Ga. – The Lee University men's basketball team used a huge second half to storm back and beat the University of West Georgia 76-71 on Saturday afternoon. After trailing by as many as 17 points in the first half, the Flames outscored UWG 54-36 in the second half to complete the comeback. The win gives Lee a 17-6 overall record and a 16-6 record in GSC play. The Flames also picked up the season sweep over the Wolves with the win.
Both teams struggled out of the gate with it being a couple of minutes before either team was able to score. Then it started to click for the Wolves going on a 8-0 run to make it a 10-2 lead. Lee continued to struggle as only Noah Boler made one layup and UWG pushed the lead out to 17-5.
The lead for UWG got as far as out as 24-7 for UWG. Then things started to click for the Flames, with Jayce Willingham, PJay Smith, and Michael McGuirk making shots and free throws. Lee pushed the deficit down to 35-22 at the half.
Smith came out firing for the Flames scoring seven straight points as Lee cut it down to a ten-point deficit at 40-30. UWG answered with their own 9-0 run and pushed the lead back out to 49-33. Smith continued to make shots as he and Willingham got the game back to 51-40 with 12 minutes left to go in the game.
The Flames started to chip away at the lead as Coach Dave Moore was called for a technical foul and Michael Zabetakis was called for a flop. Hendricks and Tariq Daughton each hit a three-point shot as the Flames went on a 13-0 run to tie the game with 4:05 left in the contest. Boler made a free throw and gave their first lead at 62-61 with 3:20 left in the contest. UWG then scored on a put back layup to end a five-minute scoring drought.
The teams traded buckets until Hendricks hit a three-point shot to give Lee a 68-67 lead with one minute left. After a UWG turnover, Hendricks hit another three-point shot to put the Flames up 72-68. Zawadie Jackson for UWG answered with a three to make it 72-71. Smith then hit two free throws to give Lee the 74-71 lead. UWG missed a shot and Smith made two more free throws with 12 seconds left to seal the game at 76-71.
Head Coach Bubba Smith was extremely proud of his team's fight. "It was a such a tough start. I told the guys during the timeout in the half we are fighting just need to adjust. I told the other coaches that I felt ok for most of the first half. The second half we responded so well both on the offense and defensive end. We finished excellently in the paint in the second half. To win the game we did today requires toughness and will it serve us well the rest of the way."
Lee was 8-for-20 from the three point arc making seven of them in the second half. Hendricks had 19 points to lead the Flames while Smith had 22. Boler added 11 and Willingham added 10. The Flames forced 18 turnovers from the Wolves and got 21 points off of that.
The Flames will wrap of the regular season with two games at home as they will host Union on Thursday, February 23 at 8 PM at Walker Arena.
