CLEVELAND, Tenn. –Despite late game drama from the Lee University men's basketball team, a late free throw from the University of West Alabama gave the Tigers a 68-67 win at Walker Arena on Thursday evening. The Flames trailed by as many as 14 points in the second half before rallying. Lee tied the game with 4.9 seconds left in the game, but after a foul, UWA made a free throw to earn the win. With the loss, Lee fell to 4-3 overall and 0-3 in GSC play, while UWA improved to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in GSC action.
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The first half moved quickly as the action moved up and down the court. The two teams traded made shots. It was a clean game with no whistles blown for a while and the two teams played to the 11:04 mark before the first media timeout. After the break, UWA hit back-to-back threes early to take a 24-18 lead. However, Marlon Smith and Zach Gray led the Flames on a run and gave Lee the 26-24 lead.
The rest of the first half the two teams traded the lead and UWA led 37-33 at the halftime break. The Tigers had a big charge to start the second half. They went on a 7-0 run to make it a 44-33 lead. After a Flame timeout, the Tigers managed to stretch the lead out to as many as 14.
The Flames clamped down defensively and didn't allow UWA to score a point for over four minutes. During those four minutes Lee went on a 9-0 run to make it 54-52. The run was capped off by a fast break layup from Tim Vaughn. However, the Tigers answered right back after Jaylen Lemons hit back-to-back three-point shots. The Flames responded once again as Tim Vaughn, Noah Boler-Kyle, and Tylon Chatman led the Flames and tied the game at 63-63.
The last two minutes went back and forth as UWA took the 65-63 lead on a jumper from Rasean Frederick before Marlon Smith tied the game. Thaddeus Williams made it 67-65 UWA with 1:17 left. After a turnover by Lee, the Tigers then missed a shot with 19 seconds left in the contest. After the Flames called a timeout, Tim Vaughn found Tariq Daughton who laid it in and tied the game at 67-67 with 4.9 seconds left. On the ensuing inbound, Vaughn was called on a blocking foul on Marcellious Lockett with 3.7 seconds left. He made one of two free throws to give UWA the 68-67 lead. The Flames didn't get a shot off and Lee fell 68-67.
The Flames shot 59% in the loss while UWA was at 44%. However, the Flames only had one offensive rebound in the loss while UWA had ten offensive rebounds and ten second chance points. Boler-Kyle and Smith each had 14 points to lead the Flames. All ten players for Lee scored in the loss.
The Flames will return to action at 4 PM on Saturday, December 14 at 4 PM against the University of Alabama in Huntsville at Walker Arena.
Coach Bubba Smith's Thoughts:
"Hard to win games consistently if you play from behind in the GSC. Sometimes it is hard to figure out why we fall from behind. I don't think we are not that far away. We shot 59% tonight so the offense isn't the problem. We just weren't consistent defensively. We can't feel sorry for ourselves got to regroup and get ready for another test on Saturday."
