Jason Landman scored 18 points as the No. 23 Lee Flames made it 11 straight victories and took over possession of first place in the Gulf South Conference with a 69-64 win over the Montevallo Falcons.
The Falcons entered the contest a perfect 7-0 in league play before running into one of the hottest teams in the nation in the Flames. Coach Bubba Smith's club is now 13-3 overall and 8-1 in conference. Montevallo falls to 7-1 and 11-5 on the year.
Landman provided a huge lift off the bench for the short-handed Flames who used just seven players.
The junior was 7 of 11 from the field, canned three 3-pointers and hauled in nine rebounds in 21 minutes of action. His 18 points are a career-high for the forward from Arab, Ala.
"Jason was great tonight. We needed someone to step up, and he did in a big way," said Smith. "Not just making shots, but defensively, effecting shots around the rim, and playing with a ton of energy. I couldn't be more proud of the work he's put in this season. He deserved a game like this."
The play of the game came with 1:38 remaining and the Flames up four. Lee shared the basketball with precision into the waning seconds of the shot clock before Parker Suedekum cut to the basketball and made the extra pass to an open Ryan Montgomery who canned the triple to put the game out of reach and silent the Montevallo crowd.
Montgomery, who was named the league's player of the week each of the last two weeks, finished with 14 points and four rebounds. Montgomery leads the league averaging 21 points per game. Quay Kennedy went the full 40 minutes scoring 15 points to go along with seven rebounds.
The evenly matched game was tied at 32 at the half as Suedekum darted past a defender and converted a layup as time expired in the first half. The senior point guard finished with 12 points and six assists.
"I thought we weathered a good run from them early and tied it up at half. We kept getting great looks and couldn't get any to fall in the first 15 minutes of the second half. We told our guys they were taking good ones and they would go, just hang in there and keep playing unselfish," added Smith.
The Falcons were led by Jonas Parker's 19 points and seven rebounds. Xavier Malcom went the distance and posted 16 points and five boards. Wade Lowman gave Montevallo three players in double-figures with his 15 points and seven rebounds.
"I thought tonight was a really good basketball game with two of the top teams in the GSC. We knew this game could come down to the last four minutes, like a lot of our games have over the last month. The team that makes the fewest mistakes and can make some plays, usually wins those games. We just happened to make a few more plays down the stretch," concluded Smith.
The box score reflected the tight battle. Both teams shot 43 percent from the field while Lee held a slight 36-33 edge on the glass. The Flames were guilty of 14 floor mistakes while forcing the Falcons into 15.
The road doesn't get any easier for the Flames as they wrap up the weekend trip with visit to West Alabama. The Tigers (12-4, 5-3) are coming off a 65 to 61 loss to No. 19 Alabama Huntsville.
...