Sophomore Quay Kennedy scored 29 points and played the full 40 minutes as the Lee men's basketball team made it three straight wins topping Martin Methodist, 75-68 on Saturday afternoon in Walker Arena.
With starters Ryan Montgomery and Michael McGuirk sidelined with an injury and key reserve Beyuan Hendricks out with a sickness Parker Suedekum also carried a heavy load playing all 40 minutes and scoring 18 points to go along with nine rebounds and seven assists.
Kennedy was 11 of 20 from the field and drilled a key triple with just 2:13 left to give Lee a 69-64 lead after the RedHawks had pulled all the way within two.
"It was another gutsy win by our guys, playing short-handed and having to hold on late against a tough Martin Methodist team that wouldn't back down," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith.
"There are some lessons you can only learn having to go through adversity and I think we have responded to that adversity well so far this season. We've got some guys that are close to coming back from injury so this was a big week for us to still come away with two wins."
Lee shot 48.3 percent from the field but tallied just 4 of 17 (23.5 percent) from the 3-point line. The Flames did cash in 15 of 19 from the charity stripe. Martin Methodist tallied a similar stat line, hitting 46.6 percent from the field, 25 percent from deep and 90 percent (9 of 10) from the line.
Kentrell Evans added eight points and four assists while Josh Lowe and Alex Kelehear each had six.
Felix Hayes paced the RedHawks with 17 points and five rebounds. Shondell Jackson added 14 and Sam Martin pitched in 11.
"I talked to our guys about cherishing the opportunities to grow through adversity. We knew Martin Methodist was a talented team and they kept coming at us," said Smith. "We had a chance to extend the lead and missed some opportunities late in the game but were able to close out and I'm proud of the guys for how they responded tonight."
With the win the Flames move to 5-3 while Martin Methodist (NAIA) was counting the game as an exhibition, coming in at 6-4.
Lee will play its final non-conference game of the year on Wednesday as it hosts Campbellsville-Harrodsburg. The Flames enter Gulf South Conference play on Dec. 15 at West Florida.