Flames sneaks past Union on senior day

CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Lee University made all eight of their free throws on Saturday as the Flames held on to defeat Union University 60-57 on senior day at Walker Arena. The Flames improved their record to 13-13 on the season and finished the regular season at 9-13 in the Gulf South Conference. Lee will now take on the #1 seed in the GSC Tournament on Tuesday, March 4. The Flames will go to the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers and battle in the first round of the tournament.

Before the contest, Lee celebrated three seniors from the squad. Lee recognized Giancarlo Valdez, Tariq Daughton, and Noah Boler-Kyle.

The first half was another low scoring affair as both teams traded the lead for most of the period. After the game was tied at 20-20, Lee went on a 7-0 run to lead 27-20 and never trailed again.

Every time Union made a run in the second half, Lee had an answer. Brent Bowman had a season best 19 points to lead the Flames to the win. Daughton had 13 points in the win. He hit two clutch free throws on a one-and-one with 7.6 seconds left to help ice the game.

The Flames were up 58-57 when he stepped up to the line. He sank both free throws to give Lee the 60-57 lead. On the ensuing inbounds play, Boler-Kyle stole the ball at mid-court and wasted out the time to preserve the win.

Tim Vaughn added nine points and ten rebounds in the win.

Neither team shot the ball well as Lee shot 39% from the floor while Union shot 37%.

The Flames will honor Daughton, Boler-Kyle, and Giancarlo Valdez before the start of the contest for senior day on Saturday.

Coach Bubba Smith’s Thoughts:

“It was a great environment for senior day today! Proud of our guys for finding a way to win. It was hard to find the big plays for much of the contest. Brent was the x-factor in the win. We liked the matchup he had and he made his chances. We have talked a lot about not letting losses define our season. We didn’t settle this year and it wasn’t perfect but we made the tournament and have another opportunity to keep playing.”