Senior Chad Lee calmly drained two free throws with four seconds remaining to give the Lee men's basketball team a nail biting 66-63 victory over Claflin College
on Saturday afternoon in the GSC/SIAC Challenge hosted by West Georgia.
After winning at the buzzer
on Friday it seemed fate maybe against the Flames in the final moments of the contest as Claflin (0-2) appeared to tie the game with a 3-point basket but the shot was waived off as time had already expired.
"We're 0.2 seconds away from being 0-2," noted head coach Tommy Brown.
"I feel like we lost today. I was very unhappy with our poise and play down the stretch."
Lee led throughout the contest but it looked as if the Panthers were going to storm all the way back in the last two minutes as Lee committed several turnovers and were called for an untimely technical foul with
1:26 left allowing Claflin to draw within one.
With the Flames clinging to a 64-63 lead in the final seconds the Panthers had a chance to win it but failed to convert as Lee mustered a big defensive stop and hit the late free throws to survive with the win.
Friday's hero Corey Billingsley once again led the offensive attack for the Flames with 23 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. The senior was electric from behind the arc, hitting 4-of-5. Billingsley added 11 rebounds to complete the double-double performance. Lee finished with four points and five boards in 20 minutes of action as he continues to battle back from a preseason illness.
Sophomore Chase Cullen chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Flames. Junior Tyquan Roberts added nine markers while Bryce Copeland registered eight points.
"They were holding and pushing us around pretty good down the stretch and we didn't handle that very well," noted Brown. "Our two seniors made some big plays to really help us late. Chad stepped up with the two free throws and a big rebound."
The Flames shot 45 percent from the field (22-of-49). Lee held 38-34 rebounding advantage and outscored the South Carolina club 26-20 inside the paint.
The Panthers turned the ball over just 11 times compared to 19 floor mistakes by the Flames. Claflin shot 88 percent from the foul line (22-of-25) while Lee converted 15 of their 21 freebies (71 percent).
Carlton Johnson led the way for Claflin with 20 points doing most of his damage from the foul line where he was 14-of-16. Kendall Jackson added 14 points while Montell Williams tallied 11.
The Flames will take a 2-0 record back to Walker Arena to open up the home portion of the regular season
on Monday night against Truett-McConnell. Opening tip is scheduled for
8 p.m.
"We really need the crowd to show up and support us this upcoming week," said Brown. "Truett-McConnell is playing really well to start the year under their new head coach."
After
Monday's contest Lee will battle old rival Tennessee Temple
on Thursday before hosting Milligan College a week from
Monday before heading into the Thanksgiving break.