Known as “Big Shot B”, Beyuan Hendricks hit a three-point shot as time expired to give the Lee University Flames a 73-71 win over the Delta State University Statesmen on Thursday night. In a game where the Flames trailed by as many as 17 in the first half, they outscored the Statesmen by 13 in the second half to help earn the win. Hendricks had 19 points and nine assists to lead the Flames.
Lee improved to 9-2 overall and 7-2 in Gulf South Conference play and find themselves in second place in the conference standings.
Delta State fell to 8-5 overall and 6-4 in GSC action.
The Flames started the game quickly again jumping out to a 5-0 lead just 90 seconds into the game. However, the Statesmen settled in and turned up the defense. DSU answered with a 14-2 run to take a 14-7 lead. DSU extedned it out to an 11 point advantage before and alley-oop and three-point shot from Noah Boler-Kyle cut into the deficit.
Delta State continued to make shots going 11-for-12 to start the contest including six three-point shots and pushed the lead out to 33-18 and forced a timeout from Lee. After the timeout Lee ended the first half on a 9-2 run and trailed 40-29 at the break. The Flames shot 52% from the floor in the first half, but DSU was 67% from the floor.
Lee came out strong to start the second half and cut the lead down to 44-40 in the first four minutes and forced a timeout from DSU. The two teams traded buckets and then the Flames went on a run. A three from Tariq Daughton and an dunk for Noah Boler-Kyle punctuated a 10-0 run for the Flames and retook the 52-49 lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
However, the Statesmen answered with their own 7-0 run to retake the lead at 56-54. The teams traded buckets while DSU slowly extended the lead out to seven points. Tim Vaughn hit a three point shot with four minutes left in the contest to make it 65-61. A few minutes later, Makhi McGuire had a four straight points for the Flames and cut it to a 69-68 game with 90 seconds left.
After a made layup by DSU, Beyuan Hendricks answered with a layup to make it 71-70 with 40 seconds left in the game. The next 30 seconds consisted of both teams turning the ball over. The Flames fouled Chris Terrell with 10 seconds left in the contest down by one. He missed the front end of the one-and-one free throw and Lee had one more opportunity. JJ Barnes brought it down the right side of the court and handed the ball to Hendricks who hit a three-point shot as time expired to give Lee the win.
Three Flames scored in double figures lead by Hendricks who had 19. Boler-Kyle added 13 while Daughton had 12. The Statesmen had four players in double figures as Maalik Cartwright had 15 and Caleb Allen added 15 as well. The Flames shot 59% from the floor in the win while DSU was 56.9% shooting. DSU had the advantage in rebounds by one at 22-21.
Lee will finish up the three game road trip on Monday evening as they will take on the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Ga. with the tip off set for 7:30 PM.