Box Score PENSACOLA, Fla. – The host University of West Florida men's basketball team jumped out to a 12-point lead early in the first half and never looked back in eliminating Lee University from GSC Tournament play on Thursday evening with a 79-72 victory. The Flames only led once and that came in the opening 53 seconds.
The defeat ended Lee's season with a 15-13 record. However, the Flames finished the year winning five of their last six games. The Argonauts advanced to the championship final with a 24-8 record. UWF will travel to
Livingston, Ala. and face top-seeded University of West Alabama. The Tigers defeated the University of Alabama in Huntsville to earn a shot at the title.
Lee trailed 47-33 at the halftime break. The Argo lead stood at 44-33 with just over a second remaining. The Flames attempted a long pass that was intercepted and Ryan Payne drilled a 3-pointer as the halftime buzzer sounded in handing Lee one of the crushing moments of the game.
The Flames never gave up and continued to battle back. Two free throws by Tim Vaughn with 1:14 remaining in the contest cut the Argo lead to only 73-70. The host club converted their key free throws in the final minute to turn back the Lee comeback.
Lee made 48% (28-of-59) shots from the field but struggled to find the range from beyond the arc, hitting 18% (3-of-17). The Flames converted 13-of-15 charity tosses. UWF shot almost an identical percentage of 46% (26-of-57) overall and made 4-of-14 triples (29%). The Argos won going away at the free-throw line canning 23-of-28.
Rebounding also played a major role in the triumph for West Florida. They outboarded the Flames 38-29. Turnovers were not a factor as each club committed 14 floor mistakes. Each club came away with nine steals.
Lee's Dayveun Anderson had a career-scoring night (20 points) in the loss. He made 8-of-13 shots from the field and 3-of-5 treys. He was only awarded two freebies and converted one. Three other Flames were in double-figure scoring. Tyrone Chatman finished strong and tallied 17 points. Jamarcus Wilkins was 4-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the line in totaling 12 points. Vaughn had a solid effort, 11 points, and four rebounds. He was 7-of-8 in free-throw attempts.
Aric Demings paced the winners with 22 points. He marched to the line 13 times and nailed 12. Tim Hall Jr. and Elijah Wyche finished with 14 markers apiece. Hall was the Argo leading rebounder with nine and Wyche followed with seven.
The Argonauts outscored Lee 19-15 in points off turnovers but a key stat shows UWF converting 22 points off fast breaks while the Flames managed only five.
Coach Bubba Smith's thoughts:
"We are certainly disappointed our season came to an end tonight. UWF is talented and well coached. They have won close games all season. I am proud of how our guys competed and kept improving at the end of the season, winning five of the last six and three road games to end the regular season. Unfortunately. we didn't perform well enough on the road, which is necessary to finish near the top of the GSC. I'm thankful for our seniors, Tim Vaughn and Hayden Moseley, for what have meant to our program and how they have led this season. We will miss them. We will take the required time off, begin developing our returning players and addressing our needs for next year's team."
