Colton Blevins and Ryan Montgomery scored 18 points and the Lee defense shutdown Martin Methodist to lead the Flames to a convincing, 72-48 victory over the RedHawks on Saturday afternoon inside Walker Arena.
Michael McGuirk added 12 points while Quay Kennedy (7) and Josh Lowe (6) produced off the bench to give the Flames their second straight double-digit victory.
The Lee defense, ferocious from the opening jump, limited the RedHawks to just 31 percent shooting from the field (16 of 51) and surrendered just two 3-pointers in the contest.
The Flames forced Martin Methodist into 16 turnovers.
"I was pleased with our guy's effort after nine days off and being in finals. The defensive effort we established in the first 20 minutes of the game set the tone for the entire game," said head coach Bubba Smith. "We got good production off our bench tonight and that really helped as well. It was a total team effort."
The Flames never trailed in the game and opened up a 31-18 lead at the halftime break. "I thought we had some good looks that didn't fall in the first half or the lead could have been bigger."
Lee shot 50 percent (30 of 60) from the field and canned six 3-pointers in the win. The Flames grabbed 31 rebounds while Martin Methodist pulled in 33, 11 on the offensive end.
Mason Malcanee led the RedHawks with 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
The win moves the Flames to 3-5 on the season. Martin Methodist, members of the NAIA, was counting the game as an exhibition.
"Our identity is to be a tough defensive team and that leads to good offense for us and I like that we are starting to settle into that as we get set for three conference games before Christmas," added Smith. "You have to defend and you have to be tough to win in the GSC so I think we are starting to really dig down and play and practice with toughness and with energy."
The Flames will play three GSC games in five days beginning with a trip to rival Shorter on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. The two teams were scheduled to play last Saturday but a water leak in Shorter's gym caused the game to be postponed.
Lee wraps up the pre-Christmas slate with a visit from Valdosta State on Saturday (4 p.m.) and West Florida on Dec. 17 at 8 p.m.