CLEVELAND, Tenn. – Behind Ben Ritger's career night, the Lee University men's basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak with an 83-74 win over the Union University Bulldogs. Ritger scored 18 points in the first half and added 15 more in the second half for 33 total points. With the win, Lee improved to 7-7 overall and 4-6 in Gulf South Conference action.
Ritger shot 11-of-21 from the floor with five of his shots coming from the three-point arc. Dayveun Anderson also had a career night with 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
The scoring started very slowly for each team. The first points of the game didn't come for almost three minutes. Anderson hit two free throws at the 17:16 mark in the first half. The first field goal didn't come for Lee until the 14:11 mark on a layup from Anderson. Union's first point wasn't until there was 13:48 left in the first half and their first field goal wasn't made until it was 13:23 on the clock.
The Flames used a 13-0 run to pull out in front in the first half. Over a three-minute stretch they took the lead from 20-16 to 33-16. The Flames ended up leading it 39-24 at the halftime break.
In the second half, Union used the inside presence of Terrence Ringo Jr. and Will Lovings-Watts to slowly cut into the lead. Ringo scored 22 of his 30 points in the second half while Lovings-Watts had 11 of his 18. The Bulldogs eventually came to within five points at 60-55. However, Ritger and Zach gray went on an 8-0 run and the Flames never looked back on the way to the 83-74 win.
Outside of two early ties, the Flames led for almost the entire game. They held the lead for 36:39 of the 40 minutes and never trailed.
Lee shot 44% in the contest and had 11 points off Union turnovers. The Flames had 14 assists in the win and only five turnovers.
The Flames will remain at home on Saturday, January 17 as they will host Chrisitan Brothers University at 4 PM at Walker Arena.
Coach Bubba Smith's Thoughts:
"Ben's (Ritger) first half was good. And our team did well in riding that wave and that helped us to a good team win. The defense was good in the first half, and we were active and effective. Our two lead guards handled the ball well and controlled the game. We now need to build off of tonight. We have made strides the last couple of weeks but just haven't got the results. But our team has grown and we kept believing in what we are doing.
