Another tough shooting night proved to be too much to overcome as the Lee men's basketball team fell to Embry-Riddle 79-63 on Saturday afternoon to close out the Gulf South/Sunshine State Crossover Tournament.
The Flames overcame shooting woes to grind out an 81-78 victory Friday over Palm Beach Atlantic, but Embry-Riddle's zone defense made life difficult for much of today's game.
The Eagles went on a 9-0 run near the end of the half and never looked back. The Flames cut the margin to three with 6:40 remaining in the second half but Embry-Riddle pulled away from there to finish off the victory.
Jayce Willingham led the Flames with a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Quay Kennedy and Michael McGuirk added 10 points and Beyuan Hendricks had nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
"I thought we had a better start today and competed early out of the gate, but struggled down of the stretch the last four minutes," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "We didn't shoot the ball well this weekend, and when you don't make shots, it puts a ton of pressure on every other aspect of the game. Your margins shrink significantly and against a good and experience team like ERU, they make you pay for every mistake."
The Flames shot just 36 percent from the field and 23 percent from the 3-point line. The Eagles connected on 46 percent from the field and were 8 of 20 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. Each team turned the ball over 12 times and Embry-Riddle held a 44-40 edge in rebounding.
Jenkins led the Eagles with a game-high 16 points. Alessandro put together a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Heard tallied 12 points.
The Flames settle for a split over the opening weekend and are 1-1. The Eagles move to 2-0. Lee will face another stiff crossover test next weekend as it gets an NCAA Tournament rematch with Georgia Southwestern before tangling with a tough North Georgia squad.
"We have to find ways to be consistent every night, especially on the defensive end. I know we will learn a lot from this game and it's what you need early sometimes to grow the most. We will get back at it on Monday," concluded Smith.