Will Barnes scored early and often finishing with 31 points in leading the Lee men’s basketball team past Carver College Saturday evening at Walker Arena.

Barnes one-handed dunk early in the contest got the home crowd on their feet and set the tone for an 86-62 non-conference victory for the No. 2 Flames (21-1).

“Our plan was to start the game with Will’s dunk” quipped coach Tommy Brown. “Will (Barnes) was a one man offense in the first half. He shot the ball unbelievably well.” Barnes finished 12-of-15 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from behind the arc.

Senior Steve Bennett added 15 points and five rebounds for Lee. Jamorris Gaines tallied 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Chase Dunn and Duran Blue each had five assists to set the Flames offense in motion.

As a team the Flames shot the ball well the entire game, finishing 33-of-65 from the field (60 percent). Lee was 5-of-12 (42 percent) from 3-point distance and missed just one foul shot the entire game cashing in 15-of-16 from the charity stripe. The Cougars shot 41 percent from the field (18-of-49) and 38 percent from behind the arc (5-of-13).

“We played very little defense in the first 10 minutes of the game. The last 10 minutes of the first half and opening 10 minutes of the second half I thought we played excellent defense.” noted Brown. “The final 10 minutes of the game we went back to not playing much defensive. In the next three games we’ll need to play solid defense for a full 40 minutes.”

The Flames dished out 18 assists and were guilty of 15 floor mistakes. Carver had just eight assists while committing 12 turnovers. Lee outrebounded the Cougars 34-23.

The Cougars had a trio of players finish in double-figures. Nickolas Hood led the way with 19 points. Julian Bratton and Joe Comer both chipped in 15 points for the Atlanta, Ga. based club.

After two non-conference matchups the Flames will head back into Southern States Athletic Conference (SSAC) play next week, beginning with Southern Wesleyan on Thursday evening at Walker Arena. Tip time is set for 8 p.m.

Following Thursday’s game Lee will host No. 10 Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon. The two clubs sit atop the Eastern Division standings. Tip time for the SSAC showdown is 4 p.m.