The No. 23 Lee men's basketball team dropped a rugged, defensive battle, 54-52 to the top-seeded and No. 11-ranked Alabama Huntsville Chargers on Friday evening in the Gulf South Conference Semifinals.
The Flames had a look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it but Michael McGuirk's shot hit just off the iron. Jayce Willingham gave Lee a 50-48 advantage with 2:26 left but UAH would regain the lead for good on a Max Shulman layup with 1:24 remaining. Lee had the ball down one 51-50 coming out of a timeout with 22 ticks left on the clock when Sam Orf made the play that sealed the game as he jumped the passing lane to come up with a crucial steal.
Orf would hit both foul shots and with only three team fouls the Chargers would run precious seconds off the clock in the final moments of the game.
When the Flames finally reached the bonus Quay Kennedy hit two fouls shots with just five seconds left before quickly fouling. Orf would split the shots to set up the last look for McGuirk and the Flames that bounced off.
"I thought we settled too much tonight offensively," said Lee head coach Bubba Smith. "UAH was packing the lane and forcing us at times to take the shot, but we are at our best when we get to the basket and create contact. Overall though I thought we played a fantastic defensive game and really made things difficult on them offensively. I loved the way we battled, and we will look forward to getting a chance to continue our season in the NCAA Tournament."
The Flames held the Chargers to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field and 26.9 percent from the 3-point line. Lee was also held in check offensively shooting just 38.8 percent and only 25 percent from beyond the arc. The biggest difference was at the foul line where UAH went 13 of 21 while the Flames only had eight chances and converted six.
Willingham led Lee with 15 points and seven rebounds. Beyuan Hendricks poured in 12 to go along with five rebounds and five assists while Kennedy added nine points and nine rebounds.
Orf paced the Chargers with 16 points and was their lone player to register double figures. Seth Swalve and Max Shulman each had nine while JJ Kaplan tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
As was expected the game was played closed the entire night. No team held an advantage of more than five. There were eight lead changes and eight ties.
"We are still a very young team at some key spots for a lot of our guys this is their first experience of playoff college basketball," added Smith. "I think we have learned a lot and grown over playing in such close games the last three times out. I know our guys will be ready to go next weekend."
The Flames (14-5) are currently the No. 4 seed in the South Region and appear to have that spot sealed up. The NCAA Selection show is Sunday night at 10 p.m. Valdosta State will be hosting the event and games are scheduled to begin on Saturday.
The Chargers (14-2) are the No. 3 seed in the South but could potentially jump to second if they win their second straight GSC title on Sunday. Valdosta State knocked off West Georgia in the other semifinal to set up a rematch of last year's title game. The top two seeds in the six-team Region Tournament will get a First Round bye.