CLINTON, Miss. – The Lee University men's basketball team let an 11 point lead slip away in the second half and dropped a hard fought GSC game to Mississippi College 64-62 on Thursday evening. In a game that featured four ties and six lead changes, The Choctaws ended the game on a 6-0 run to earn the win.
The Choctaws took an early lead with a layup and a dunk before Beyuan Hendricks and Jayce Willingham hit a couple of jumpers to tie the game up. Willingham led the way early hitting a three-point shot and a couple of free throws to make the lead 14-9. Mississippi College struck right back with a three-point shot to make it 14-12.
After that point, neither team was able to get shots to fall. Over the next ten minutes, both teams scored less than ten points. With about four minutes left in the first half, MC found some offense and went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead at 29-25. Hendricks finally got a layup to end the four-minute scoring drought and PJay Smith hit a three-point shot to cut the deficit to 31-30 at the break
Out of the halftime break the two teams traded the lead three times in the first minute of action. Smith and Willingham then made a quick five points to give Lee the 38-33 lead. Those two buckets kindled a spark for the Flames leading them on a 11-2 run pushing the lead out to 48-37 lead and forcing a timeout from MC.
The Choctaws used free throws to cut the deficit down, but Noah Boler hit his second three point shot of the season to keep the lead at 11 points. Mississippi College then went into a full court press and turned up the pressure. They used a 6-0 run to cut the game down to 58-55.
MC held Lee scoreless for over three minutes and cut it down a one-point game. Boler had a put back slam dunk to keep the lead at three points. MC made another bucket before Hendricks hit two free throws to give Lee the 62-59 lead with two minutes left to go in the game. After a turnover by the Flames, Michael McGuirk blocked a shot off of a Choctaw player and gave the ball back to the Flames with 1:23 left in the game up 62-61. On the ensuing possession, Willingham turned the ball over. The Choctaws used a back door cut and slammed a dunk home to take a 63-62 lead. After a missed shot, the Flames committed a foul and MC made one free throw with 14 seconds to go in the game. The Flames had one more shot to tie or take the lead, but Smith's last second shot didn't fall and MC came away with the win.
Head Coach Bubba Smith knew it would be a battle tonight. "These games are tough and give credit to Mississippi. They made plays down the stretch and deserved to win the game. Our guys competed for a lot of the game tonight. But you have to finish and close out games and we didn't do that tonight."
Both teams committed 16 turnovers in the game. MC was 13-for-18 from the charity stripe while Lee was only 6-for-7. Willingham had 19 points in the loss while Smith had 14 points
Up next the Flames will continue the road trip and will head to Cleveland, Miss. and will take on Delta State on Saturday, February 11 at 5 PM.
