MONTEVALLO, Ala. – A hot shooting University of Montevallo men's basketball team snapped the three-game win streak of Lee University 71-66 on Saturday afternoon. Montevallo led for 36 minutes of the contest and the Flames only two minutes. However, the lead never got larger than nine points as Lee kept it close. Lee dropped to 9-8 overall and 6-7 in Gulf South Conference action.
The Falcons hit their first three long range shots on the way to making ten in the game. They went up early 11-2 before Lee started to battle back. Tylon Chatman led the charge and the Flames eventually took the lead in the first half. Lee got it out to a 29-26 lead but could not maintain it.
The second half featured the two teams trading a lot of shots. With the lead for UM hovering around five to six points. Brandon Fussell led the Falcons in scoring with 19 points, but it was freshman Bryant James who had five big three-point shot to provide a spark whenever the Falcons needed it. Lee got it down to 69-66 with 20 seconds left but could not get it any closer as UM won 71-66.
Ben Ritger continued to play well as he was perfect from the floor. He was five-for-five including making both his three-point shots. He also made both his free throws to give him 14 points. Chatman led the way for Lee with 17 points. Zach Gray had 12 while Jamarcus Wilkins.
The Flames only managed to shoot 3-of016 from long range and 7-for-13 from the free throw line. Most of the offensive fire power came in the paint as Lee had a 42-26 advantage there. The Flames also had a seven-rebound advantage at 38-31.
The Flames will return home for a showdown with the University of Alabama in Huntsville on Thursday, January 29 at 7:30 PM.
Coach Bubba Smith's Thoughts:
"I thought our guys really competed and gave us a chance today. A lot of the categories that affect winning, points in the paint, second chance points, rebounding margin, defensive FG%, we won those battles which is why we had a chance. We missed some easy opportunities around the basket today and we left some points at the free throw line. It's hard to win games against good teams on the road if some of those don't fall your way. We also had great looks from three that just didn't go down today. I was proud of how our team responded after their first run and settled in. We are doing a lot of good things right now, we just have to continue to keep improving as we head into a big week at home."
