No. 5 Lee shuts down Faulkner
December 6
No. 5 Lee caught fire from the field in the second half and, combined with frigid Faulkner shooting, raced away for a 65-52 victory Saturday in a key Southern States Athletic Conference game at Tine Davis Gymnasium.
The Flames (7-2, 1-1 SSAC) made 54 percent of their shots in the second half and broke open a close game with timely big shots, most off the talented right hand of sophomore backup guard Stephen McClellan, who made three of his five 3-point bombs in the final 20 minutes. McClellan’s 20 points and Nate Minnoy’s 16 led the Lee attack.
Faulkner, which led briefly in the first half, trailed 28-24 at the break. An Andrew Williams 3-point shot brought the Eagles to within 1 early in the second half, but the Flames steadily pulled away from there. The 13-point margin matched the game’s largest. Faulkner (7-4, 3-1 SSAC) was paced by the 14 points apiece by Randell Moore and Reggie Dupree. For the game Faulkner made just 36 percent of its shots, including only 29 percent in the first half.
“We just didn’t shoot the ball well, and Lee made a bunch of big shots,’’ Faulkner head coach Jim Sanderson said. “They’ve got a very good team, but I saw some things today that I liked from our team. Our guys know we can compete with the best teams in the country.’’
Lee outrebounded Faulkner 35-24 and earned 10 offensive rebounds which resulted in 14 second-chance points. The Eagles scored only one second-chance basket in the game.
Minnoy controlled the inside in the first half, scoring 13 of his points and grabbing six of his rebounds as the Flames took a 28-24 lead at intermission. Lee's biggest margin in the opening half came at the 2:53 mark when McClellan put back a Flame miss for a 25-18 advantage. McClellan's bucket concluded a 12-2 Lee run that erased a 16-13 Faulkner lead.
Faulkner is back in action next Saturday when it hosts William Carey at 2 p.m. The game will be played at Auburn Montgomery due to Faulkner's commencement exercises at Tine Davis Gymnasium.