CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Lee University men's basketball team defeated Christian Brothers University 81-60 on Saturday afternoon at Walker Arena. The win gave the Flames a 19-6 overall record to end the regular season and a 18-6 record in Gulf South Conference play. The Flames will be the #3 seed in the upcoming GSC tournament.
CBU came out firing and jumped out to a 7-2 lead early and forced a quick timeout from the Flames. After the break, Lee settled in as Josh Lowe and Jayce Willingham hit a couple of shots to cut into the lead. The two teams traded until Aiden Ruthsatz was fouled shooting a three-point shot for the Bucs. He made all three free throws and gave CBU a 26-18 lead.
The Flames responded with a 8-0 run over three minutes. The run was sparked by a PJay Smith three-point shot to tie the game at 26-26. CBU then answered with their own short 4-0 run to push the lead back out to 30-26. Willingham ended the run with a fade away jumper. Lee got its first lead of the game at the 4:58 when Tariq Daughton's shot was block for a goaltend. Then Daughton and Smith hit back-to-back three-point shots and gave Lee a 39-34 lead which forced another time out from CBU. Lee continued to hit three-point shots and went on a 7-0 run and made the lead 46-38 at the half. The Flames were 7-for-11 from three in the first half.
Willingham made back-to-back shots to start the half and extended the lead to 50-38 and forced the fourth and final timeout from CBU. McGuirk then added a layup and a free throw and made it a 15-point lead for the Flames. Hendricks and Smith kept making outside shots and pushed the lead out to 25 points at 68-43.
After extended the lead out, the Flames went cold and were held scoreless for over seven and a half minutes. CBU was only able to cut the lead down to 68-53 due to the tough defense from Lee. Lowe finally ended the drought with a three-point shot for Lee and then Jalen Page had a thunderous dunk to make it a 20-point lead once again for the Flames. Ruthsatz tried to keep CBU close with 30 points and seven made three pointers, but it wasn't enough as Lee made 12 three pointers in the game to win it 80-61.
Head Coach Bubba Smith reflected on the two seniors on the team. "Jayce and Mike have been here for a while, and they have been a coaches dream. They compete, they work hard, and they lead the team. They showed all of that on the court tonight in the win. The bench was fantastic tonight and really set it well. We started slow but really quick it into gear. Now we have to prepare for the first round of GSC play. It is always a privilege to play at home in the post season,"
Lee will host Auburn University Montgomery in the quarterfinals of the GSC tournament on Tuesday, February 28 at 8 PM at Walker Arena.
