CLEVELAND, Tenn. –The Lee University Flames could not hold off a second half charge from Union University and dropped their third straight Gulf South Conference contest on Saturday evening. Lee led 38-23 at the halftime break, but Union outscored the Flames 49-30 in the second half for the 72-68 win. With the loss, Lee fell to 9-5 overall and 7-5 in GSC play.
 
The Flames started the game on a 13-0 run. It took five plus minutes for the Bulldogs to earn their first point. But then, Union had their own 7-0 run to climb right back into the game. Willie Walton hit a three-point shot to end the Lee run. The Flames managed to push the lead out to 15 points but could never get it further.
 
Union started the second half attacking the bucket. They made free throws and layups to go on a 17-4 run to start the half and cut it to 49-47. In response, Beyuan Hendricks had a 6-0 run on his own to take it out to a 54-47 lead for the Flames. However, the Bulldogs answered right back and with 4:15 to go in the game, took their first lead at 60-58. The teams traded buckets the rest of the way and Union hit their free throws to earn the win.
 
The Bulldogs were 17-for-19 from the free throw line while Lee was 8-for-12. Despite forcing 16 Union turnovers, Lee only managed 11 points off of turnovers. Hendricks led Lee with 16 points while JJ Barnes had 14 and Walton had 11. For Union, Jordan Pyke had 22 points.
 
The Flames will head back onto the road on Thursday, January 18 as they will take on the University of West Florida at 8:30 PM in Pensacola, Fla.
 
Coach Bubba Smith's Thoughts:
 
"It was a tale of two halves. We played with urgency in the first half but in the second half we were on our heels early in the second and gave them some momentum. They were more aggressive in the second half and we let them shoot 60%."
 
"We haven't strung 40 minutes together in a while and we need to figure it out. When you are struggling it seems like your opponent's just make you pay for everything."
 
"Tough to go on the road in the GSC. Going to see what kind of resolve our team has this week."