Despite a late push to bring it within four points, the deficit was too much for the Lee University men’s basketball team as they fell to Trevecca Nazarene University on Saturday evening. The Trojans led by as many as 17 points in the contest and held on to win 82-78. With the loss, the Flames fell to 4-7 on the season and have lost seven straight contests in the Gulf South Conference slate.
Both teams traded buckets early on, but Trevecca remained out in front thanks to making their free throws.
The Trojans were 12-for-14 from the charity stripe in the first half while the Flames were 1-of-1.
With 5:21 left in the first half, A Tylon Chatman floater made it just a two-point lead for TNU at 26-24, but then the Trojans went on a big run. They outscored the Flames 16-4 in the last five minutes and after a 7-0 run, led it 42-28 at the break.
The second half started with the team trading buckets. Tariq Daughton hit a couple of three-point shots to keep it close, but Jalen Page and Jakari Johnson for Trevecca kept pushing the lead.
The Trojans pushed the lead out to as many as 17 points at 65-48 with 8:12 left in the contest. But then Zach Gray took over for the Flames. He scored all 14 of his points in the last eight minutes and pulled the Flames back within seven points. Gray had a steal and a chance to cut to make it a five-point game with two and half minutes left, but NaVuan Peterson blocked his shot to keep it a 76-69 game. Willie Walton hit a couple of late threes, but the Trojans made their free throws and hung on to win 82-78.
Lee made three more field goals in the loss than Trevecca, but the Trojans scored 25 points off of 17 Flame turnovers while Lee only managed eight points off of 12 TNU turnovers.
The Trojans ended the game 19-for-22 from the free throw line while Lee was 10-of-12. Daughton had a season high 15 points while Gray had 14. Chatman chipped in 12 and Marlon Smith had ten points.
Lee will stay at home with a matchup against Mississippi College on Thursday, January 9 at 7:30 PM.
The Lee University women outscored visiting Trevecca Nazarene University 33-18 in the second half in posting a 65-47 Gulf South Conference victory over the Trojans. The Lady Flames improved to 10-3 overall and 4-3 in GSC play while the Trojans dropped to 4-9, 1-6. Lee will return to action on Thursday (5:30) and will host Mississippi College.
The Lady Flames forced 20 Trojan turnovers and turned the mistakes into 27 points. They also outscored the visitors 32-10 in points in the paint and held a 32-26 advantage in the rebounding department.
Three Lee players finished in double-figure scoring. Mallory Hampton tallied 19 points to go along five assists and four rebounds. Haylee Johnson followed with 17 points and tied for the lead in rebounding with five. Anna Muhonen pitched in with 10 points and also collected five boards. Baylee Delbridge totaled eight points while Haley Cameron and Mia Hurst also went to the glass for five rebounds. After shooting only 29% in the first quarter and leading 12-10, the Lady Flames shot 62% in the second frame but the Trojans also kept pace and Lee led by only 33-29 at the halftime break.
It was an entirely different story in the third and fourth periods as Lee held Trevecca to only nine points in each of the periods while putting 33 points on the board in pulling away for the victory. Overall, the Lady Flames shot 46% (24-of-52) for the game and was perfect from the charity stripe, canning 10-of-10 attempts.
The Trojans finished with 33% shooting from the field (16-of-48) and made just 4-of-20 3-point attempts (20%). They went to the line 16 times and converted 11. Amaya Thomas had 13 points and five rebounds and was the only Trevecca player in double-figure scoring. Jayda Woods tallied eight points while Cheyenne Trotter paced the visitors rebounding by pulling down eight boards.