Lee Basketball Win Two At Union

  • Saturday, January 14, 2017

Playing in yet another nail biting Gulf South Conference contest the Lee women's basketball team outlasted Union University, 74-69 on Saturday afternoon.

The two longtime rivals staged yet another epic battle with Union cutting a nine-point deficit to just three at 70-67 with just 1:24 remaining before clutch foul shots and defense from junior Erin Walsh propelled the Lady Flames to the road victory.

Carrie Cheeks led the way for the Lady Flames with 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field and seven rebounds, five coming on the offensive end.

Walsh added 13 points and was a perfect 6 of 6 from the foul line. Haley Cornellison provided a punch off the bench with 11 points and Lindsey Roddy rounded out a balanced scoring attack with 10 points.

"We switched up the lineup today to match up with their four guards and I thought everyone responded well," said head coach Marty Rowe. "We got a total team effort today with solid performance from Jenna Scoggins, Tori Lentz, Haley Cornellison and Anna Woodford."

Gaines paced the Union effort with 19 points. Jada Smith tallied 15 points while Jada Perkins had 11 markers and dished off five assists.

Shots were falling for the Lady Flames throughout the contest as they posted a 49 percent mark from the field while drilling 8 of 20 3-pointers (40 percent). Lee also hit 14 of 18 from the charity stripe including four key makes in the final seconds by Walsh.

In addition to shooting the basketball well the Lady Flames defended the 3-point line holding a usually dangerous Lady Bulldogs' squad to just 3 of 16 shooting (18 percent) from beyond the arc.

Union held a 40-29 advantage on the glass thanks in large part to 20 offensive rebounds.

The closely contested battle featured nine ties and five lead changes. The two teams each took care of the basketball with committing 12 turnovers and Union guilty of just 10.

"We preached after Thursday's loss about playing as one and playing as a team instead of just for ourselves," noted Rowe. "That showed up in a big way tonight. We played together as one team and that was the difference in the game."

After seeing large leads dissipate in two of their last three games the Lady Flames posted 39 points in the second half to protect a three-point halftime lead.

The win moves the Lady Flames to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in the GSC. The Lady Bulldogs fall to 9-7 and are 4-6 in league play.

Lee will wind up a three-game road swing with a visit to Florence to take on the GSC front-runner, North Alabama on Thursday evening. The Lady Flames will return home on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. to host Alabama Huntsville.

The Lee University men’s basketball team completed a weekend sweep of Gulf South Conference foes with a 75-68 defeat of Union University,   On Thursday the Flames beat Christian Brothers University, 69-57, for the first time since joining the GSC.

The Flames (9-6, 5-4 GSC) used a 31-10 run to turn a 13-point deficit with 4:42 remaining in the first half into a 51-43 advantage with just under 12 minutes left in the game.

“That was big,” said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. “I felt we never had the momentum and it was like we were just holding on. The guys just gutted it out and played tough. Defensively, we strung together enough stops to get back into the game.”

Keevin Tyus made 11-of-18 shots to lead the Flames with 23 points. He also contributed five rebounds and three assists. Jervon Johnson added 17 points and Levi Woods made it three Lee players in double-digits with 16 points. Woods recorded nine of Lee’s 27 rebounds.

Union (9-6, 4-6 GSC) recorded just 19 rebounds in the game, but turned five offensive boards into 13 second-chance points. Lee outscored the Bulldogs 40-20 in the paint. Both teams turned 11 opponent turnovers into 13 points.

Lee scorched the nets in both halves to finish 30-for-48 (.625) from the field and 5-for-11 (.455) from 3-point range. The Bulldogs made 21-of-44 (.477) shots, including 10-of-18 (.556) from distance. The Flames were 10-for-11 (.909) at the free throw line, while Union made 16-of-23 (.696).

Ashanti Day scored 14 of his team-high 19 points in the first half. KC Goodwin and Nick Velasquez added 14 and 11 markers, respectively. Goodwin was Union’s top rebounder with five.

“This was a big weekend for us,” admitted Smith. “To come away with two wins was really good. We’ll take a day off, get some guys healthy and get ready for next week. Hopefully, we can get everybody healthy and get back to full strength.”

The Flames travel to Florence, Ala., to play North Alabama on Thursday before returning to Walker Arena for a showdown with Alabama Huntsville next Saturday. Thursday night’s game is scheduled to tip at 9 p.m. EST.

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