With five players scoring in double figures, the Lee men’s basketball team closed out its regular home season with an 82-72 victory over West Georgia in Walker Arena on a Senior Day afternoon.
Coach Bubba Smith could not have been more pleased with the overall play of his club. After suffering several close defeats down the stretch, the Flames regrouped and closed out the home stand with wins over West Alabama on Thursday and then a much tougher West Georgia team on Saturday.
“Anytime you have five players in double figures, it shows you are sharing the basketball,” said Smith as his Flames improved to 10-15 against Gulf South Conference competition and kept their slim hopes alive for a spot in the upcoming eight-team conference tournament.
The Flames led by all but two minutes of the entire contest and by as much as 25 points before a late rally by the Wolves.
“Not only did we get solid play from our seniors this afternoon, several of our other guys stepped up to provide key moments in the victory,” notes Smith. “I was really happy with the play of Mike Kobani and Levi Woods was excellent.”
Smith wasted no time in pointing out the fact that his club pulled down 19 offensive rebounds against an extremely athletic West Georgia team. Overall, Lee had 49 rebounds to just 32 for the losers.
Lee zoomed out to a 42-29 lead at the halftime break and quickly took complete control of the battle early in the second half. Woods, who nailed three of his four 3-pointers in the first half, finished with 17 points. Senior Jervon Johnson hit 5-of-11 shots from the field and tallied 15 points. Keevin Tyus, who stayed in foul trouble much of the game, added 14 points and seven rebounds, while senior Rico Overall tossed in 10 points as did sophomore Cody Jones.
Woods went to the glass for a team-leading nine rebounds and senior Cody Farley fought hard down-low to pull down eight boards and dished off five assists. Ryan Montgomery pitched in with six points and seven rebounds, while senior Kobani left his mark with six points and four rebounds.
The Flames shot 43 percent from the field and were consistent all across the stat board, hitting 10-of-25 triples and 8-of-10 freebies. They were guilty of 15 turnovers but many of those came with the contest already decided.
Stephaun Branch was the Wolves leader. He had 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Keron Briggs added 17 markers and West Georgia’s third guard Christian Houston poured in 14. Lee’s solid defense held the Wolves to only 40 percent shooting from the field and 30 percent from shots beyond the arc.
“We will make the trips to West Florida and Valdosta State and see what happens,” declared the Lee coach. “These guys haven’t quit all year and I expect them to be focused as we encounter our final road trip of the season.”