LIVINGSTON, Ala. - The University of West Alabama men's basketball team saw its first home loss of the 2023-24 season with a 52-51 decision by Lee University 52-51, in a blow-for-blow grudge match on Thursday inside Pruitt Hall.
Terry Durham laced the Tigers' first four points off a pair of strong drives to the rim to give West Alabama the early one-point lead with 16:40 left in the first stanza.
Noah Boler-Kyle and Tim Vaughn struck back with a pair of jumpers, including a fade-away as the shot clock expired by Vaughn to give the Flames a 7-4 advantage.
Durham's determination to keep Lee on its toes didn't stop as he scored the UWA's next four points to bring the home team within one just over 14 to go.
Kuran Garner tied things back up at ten apiece with a smooth reverse layup at the 12:10 mark.
Just after the under-12 media timeout in the first half, Durham scored his tenth point of the contest off a Thaddeus Williams steal to even things back up at 12 with nine and a half to go.
Marvin Price dug the Tigers back to a 15-14 advantage with a mid-range jumper right before the under-8 media.
Lee came out of the break and quickly built back a 22-15 lead with an 8-0 run that included two triples from Mahki McGuire and Zach Gray.
West Alabama rallied in the final three minutes of the frame, as they closed the gap to 24-23 at the half with a pair of free throws by Kuran Garner.
The Tigers came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half thanks to an 8-2 run. After Lee started the scoring with a jumper. Garner quickly responded on the other end with a 3-pointer to even the contest at 26. On UWA's next possession, Lemons brought the house down with a quick triple to give the home team the lead again, 29-26.
The Flames answered back and pulled within two with a quick four points by Tim Vaughn. Beyuan Hendricks nailed a triple off the break to put the Flames back ahead by one with under 15 to go.
Lemons buried a deep three in response after nailing a pair from the charity stripe to give UWA the 37-35 advantage with 13 minutes to play.
Tyler Talley followed suit with a triple of his own to put the Tigers up three in the back-and-forth slug fest. Despite Lee scoring the next four points to reclaim the lead, Talley wasn't finished from beyond the arc, as he knocked down his second straight from downtown to give UWA the 43-41 advantage with 10 and a half to go to play.
From the 16-minute mark onward, neither team had more than a possession lead. With under three minutes remaining, Durham met Boler-Kyle in the trenches for a 3-point play to give West Alabama the 49-48 lead.
Vaughn answered back for the Flames with a pair of layups to take a three-point advantage with 1:22 remaining.
Lee stumbled at the chance to stretch its lead as the Tigers' suffocating perimeter defense forced a shot clock violation with 20.3 to go.
Down three points, the Tigers went the easy route, as Lemons cruised to the basket with 10.8 seconds to go to get UWA within one, 52-51.
Despite giving the Flames the advantage with a Lemons foul in the backcourt, a missed one-and-one gave Garner an opportunity to win with a mid-range jumper, but it unfortunately bounced off the front iron.
Winning for the second time inside Pruitt Hall, Lee gave UWA its first home loss of the season, snapping a 15-game home winning streak. Holding home court for over a calendar year, the Tigers' last loss was on Jan. 11, 2023 against Montevallo.
Terry Durham led UWA with 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting and added seven rebounds. Jaylen Lemons added 15 points. CJ Melton had a team-high nine rebounds and also contributed two steals.
Lee's Beyuan Hendricks led the Flames with 11 points along with six rebounds and seven assists.
The Tigers suffered their first loss of the season inside the safe confines of Pruitt Hall, falling to 13-7 and 10-6 in Gulf South Conference play. Lee moves to 14-5 and 11-5 on the year with the win.
West Alabama will stay at home on Saturday as they take on Shorter inside Pruitt Hall. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
