The Lee men's basketball team withstood a late charge by the Christian Brothers Bucs to move to an even 1-1 in the Gulf South Conference with a 69-67 road victory on Saturday afternoon. 

The Bucs got a look to tie in the final possession, but the Flames perimeter defense locked in and forced a miss to seal the victory.

Quay Kennedy scored his 1,000-career point just 20 seconds into the game and finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Jayce Willingham led the Flames with 17 points and four rebounds. Beyuan Hendricks gave Lee three players in double-figures with 13 points, three rebounds and three assists. 

The Flames held their largest lead of the contest at 67-60 with on a pair of free throws by Mahki McGuire with 1:21 remaining. The Bucs battled back with a trey from Nick Deifel and an old-fashion 3-point play by Daniel Loos to sandwiched around a pair of foul shots from Lee's Beyuan Hendricks to have a look to tie at the end.

"I'm proud of how our guys competed this weekend. We would love to be 2-0, but more importantly, we competed in a way that's more like us," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "We had a lot of guys struggling with sickness as well and they battled through it and found a way to win." 

After struggling to shoot the ball throughout the first six games, the Flames were more efficient offensively on Saturday shooting 55 percent (25 of 45) from the field and the 3-point line (5 of 9). The Flames were 14 of 18 from the line including 4 of 4 in the crucial final moments of the game.

Loos led CBU with 22 points and six boards. Deifel chipped in 17 and five rebounds. The Bucs connected on 50 percent from the field and 4 of 12 from beyond the arc.

The closely contested featured five ties and 12 lead changes. The Flames largest lead was seven and the Bucs held a six-point advantage. 

The Flames move to 4-3 on the year and are 1-1 in the GSC. Christian Brothers falls to 2-3 and are now 1-1 in conference play.

"We're finally making a lot winning plays on both sides of the ball, but we will have to be better with four minutes to go moving forward. GSC games are all about getting stops and executing down the stretch.  So, we need to tighten some things up on that end," concluded Smith.

Lee will begin a four-game homestand on Tuesday as it will play its final non-conference game against Lindsey Wilson College at 7 p.m.