VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Lee men's basketball team outscored Valdosta State 35-25 in the second half on Saturday evening inside The Complex in posting a 68-61 victory. The win enabled the Flames to complete a successful road trip after they had won over West Florida on Thursday. Lee improved to 11-5 overall and 9-5 in GSC play. Valdosta State drops to 7-11, 4-10.
Coach Bubba Smith praised the work of his players off the bench in the victory over the Blazers. The Flames trailed 36-33 at the break and gained the lead for the first time on jumpers by Beyuan Hendricks and Tariq Daughton (49-44).
The Blazers came back to tie the game at 49 but Zach Gray slammed home a dunk with 10:24 showing to give Lee the lead again, 51-49. Gray followed with another 2-pointer at 9:11 to give the Flames a 53-49 advantage.
Veteran JJ Barnes got into the act with a pair of free-throws as Lee led 56-51 (7:56). Daughton countered to give Lee their biggest lead of the evening when he delivered on a 3-pointer and a 2-pointer for a 62-53 lead with 5:13 remaining.
As expected, the Blazers fought back and made it a four-point game before free throws by Barnes sealed the hard-fought win. While Hendricks was leading the Lee scoring with 13 points and Noah Boler-Kyle with 12, Daughton finished with 11 and Willie Walton, 10.
The Flames shot a solid 48% from the field (26-of-54), but struggled from beyond the arc, making only 6-of-22 (27%). In the physical battle they were awarded 16 free throws and converted 10.
Boler-Kyle had 12 rebounds in finishing the contest with a double-double. Barnes pulled down six as the Flames and Blazers both had 31 rebounds apiece. LaTrell Tate helped keep Valdosta State close by scoring a game-high 24 points. Braxton Williams added 15 markers while Lee Fenor pitched in with 10 points and nine boards.
The Lee defense held the Blazers to 39% shooting overall (22-of-57) and they made 6-of-17 shots from long range (35%) and went to the line 17 times, making 11. Lee outscored Valdosta State 36-24 in points in the paint but as Coach Smith pointed out, his Flames outscored the home standing Blazers 25-5 in points off the bench.
The Flames will return home and face Voorhees College (S.C.) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will remain at home on Saturday, hosting the University of Montevallo at 4 p.m. Admission to all games are free of charge thanks to our friends at Food City.
Coach Bubba Smith's thoughts:
"The bench guys were great today. We needed the shots that Zach (Gray), Tariq (Daughton) and Willie (Walton) all hit. We had a few chances to put it away, but could not, so it was good to see us close it on out.
"Our defense was great in the second half, and we kept VSU off balance the whole time.
"It was great to get out the slump on the road this week. It is hard to win two games back-to-back, so we will enjoy this."
