Willingham Leads Flames To 94-72 Win Over Campbellsville-Harrodsburg

  • Thursday, December 12, 2019
 Parker Suedekum scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in Wednesday's victory.
Parker Suedekum scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in Wednesday's victory.
Jayce Willingham dropped 29 points and the Lee men's basketball team exploded for 54 second half points to pull away late in a 94-72 win over Campbellsville-Harrodsburg on Wednesday evening from Walker Arena.

Willingham was on fire the entire night, dazzling the home crowed with 10 of 11 shooting from the field while going a perfect 5 of 5 from beyond the arc.

"Jayce was frustrated after last game because he didn't play his best and felt like he could do more for his teammates.
I told him tonight that his was a product of his hard work and determination. He's a player that has stepped up big for us with the injuries we've face," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith.

Beyaun Hendricks added 14 points, Kentrell Evans posted 12 and five rebounds and Josh Lowe had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Parker Suedekum rounded out the double-figure scoring with 11 points, six rebounds and three assists.

Lee dominated the glass against the undersized Pioneers holding a 46-21 advantage in rebounds. The Flames had 16 offensive rebounds and held a dominating 19-4 edge in second chance points.

"I don't think it was a great performance. The things we've been talking about defensively, playing with a sense of urgency, affecting shots, being aggressive offensively, we didn't do that enough tonight," said Smith. "We've got to get a lot better before this weekend. That type of effort won't be good enough in conference play. It's obviously nice to learn these important lessons in a win but great teams bring it every night, respect their opponent, and play with a sense of urgency and energy throughout the game. We did that in a small stretch of the second half and that was about it."

Devin Baker scored the first eight points for the Pioneers and finished with 23 points, canning 4 of 8 from the 3-point line. Jamal Weaver added 18 and Antoine Darby chipped in 12. All five starters played 35-plus minutes for the short-handed CU-Harrodsburg club.

The Pioneers hung around into the second half as Tyrese Duncan hit a 3-pointer with 16:26 left in the contest to pull the visitors to within one at 47-46. From there it was all Flames as they closed on a 47-26 run.

The Flames improve to 6-3 with their fourth straight win while CU-Harrodsburg falls to 4-5.

"We look forward to finally being at full strength on this upcoming road trip but we saw that we've got some depth and players contributing throughout the lineup which will serve us well moving into conference play," concluded Smith.

Lee will head on the road for a pair of GSC games beginning with a date against West Florida on Sunday at 5 p.m. The Flames will then tangle with Valdosta State on Tuesday at 8 p.m. before returning home for the final game of the semester against Christian Brothers at 4 p.m.
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