Contributed
(March 6, 2010)

ROME, Ga. - No. 12 Lee used a 12-0 run midway through the second half to take control, then held on to advance to the Southern States Athletic Conference tournament championship game with a 80-70 victory over Faulkner Friday night at The Forum.

The Eagles, who end their season at 18-13, trailed by only one at 38-37 and had the ball with 10:37 to play, but Jerel Blocker’s steal and layup sparked the run that lifted the top-seeded Flames into the title game against second-seed Southern Poly. The lead grew to as many as 15, and Faulkner got no closer than nine the reset of the way.

Lee dominated the backboards in the game, outrebounding Faulkner 48-31.

"Lee has a really good basketball team," Faukner head coach Jim Sanderson said. "We got beat on the boards again, and that was the difference. We improved over the year, but we just weren’t consistent throughout. We did a lot of learning but we’re already excited about getting ready for next season."

Faulkner was led by Chris Palmore, who finished with 17 points. Oneil Mangal added 10. Blocker had 30 points for the Flames, who improved to 26-6.

Lady Senators ousted

Brooke McKinnon scored a game-high 18 points and top-seeded Lee University held No. 5-seed Auburn University-Montgomery without a field goal for the first 11 minutes of the second half as the Lady Flames earned a trip to the SSAC championship game with a 53-35 win over the Lady Senators on Friday night at The Forum in Rome, Ga.

The Lady Flames turned a first-half barn burner into a runaway victory in the second frame, opening the period on a 14-2 run capped by a Katie Nelson three-pointer that gave Lee a 36-24 advantage with 9:15 remaining. Nelson, the SSAC’s Player of the Year, shook off a scoreless first half to finish with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. She also swatted three shots.

AUM, which went into the halftime locker room tied with the defending SSAC champions at 22-22, finally scored its first field goal of the second half on a Melanie Gess bucket with 8:59 to play.

A pair of Gess free throws cut Lee’s advantage to 36-29 at the 7:46 mark, but a three-pointer from Nelson and five straight points from All-SSAC selection McKinnon ignited a 10-0 Lady Flames’ spurt that gave Lee its largest lead to that point, 46-29, with 5:14 left.

Lee outscored AUM 31-13 in the second half and held the Lady Senators to 3-of-27 from the floor in the frame. The Lady Flames withstood a solid 13-point, 10-rebound effort from 6-foot-4 AUM center, Cassie Moore, who was hampered by foul trouble late in the first and into the second half.

Gess ended her career with 13 points to go along with four rebounds. The Lady Senators, who had upset Lee 73-49 in Montgomery back on Feb. 13, played toe-to-toe with the Lady Flames for the first 20 minutes and made up for a rough shooting night with a 9-of-10 showing from the foul line.

For Lee, seniors Kayce Addison and Allison Rader were solid in helping their team advance to Championship Saturday. Addison totaled seven points, five rebounds and a game-high four steals while Rader chipped in with six points and four assists.

SPSU eliminates AUM

Jas Rogers made a free throw with 0.5 seconds remaining to lift second-seeded Southern Polytechnic State University to a 56-53 victory over No. 3-seed Auburn University-Montgomery in the semifinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Championships on Friday evening at The Forum in Rome, Ga.

The Hornets (25-5), owners of one SSAC Tournament title, will play for a second as they advance to Saturday night’s championship game against top-seed Lee University. Auburn-Montgomery bows out with a 14-13 overall record.

Rogers, the 2009-10 SSAC Player of the Year, scored just six points on 1-of-12 shooting, but made his final tally count when it mattered most.

After AUM’s Daniel Quinlan tied the score at 53 with an off-balance three-pointer from the top of the key with 11 seconds remaining, Rogers attacked the goal and drew a foul from Quinlan with 0.5 left on the clock. After missing the first freebie, Rogers connected with all net on the second, putting the Hornets ahead 54-53.

No time expired as Auburn-Montgomery threw the ball out of bounds the length of the floor on its ensuing possession, and Poly’s Jordan Lemons, who led his squad with 18 points and nine rebounds, made both of his free throws to account for the final margin.

The Senators made a bold push in the second half after being dominated for much of the opening period.

Southern Poly, despite two first half fouls on Rogers, led by as much as 15 in the first stanza and went into the locker room leading 32-18. AUM made only 5-of-32 shots in the opening frame and surrendered 11 points to Southern Poly sharp shooter Xavier Dawson.

Behind SSAC Defensive Player of the Year Nathan Thomas, however, the Senators arrived in the final 20 minutes.

Thomas turned in an All-SSAC worthy performance, putting up 25 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals. For a team that struggled shooting the basketball, Thomas excelled, knocking down 7-of-12 from the floor and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe.

After Brent Jennings scored on Poly’s opening possession of the second half to extend the Hornets’ lead to 34-18, AUM embarked on a 20-5 run, crawling to within one, 39-38, on a Stephen Jordan bucket with 11:21 left.

The Senators took their first lead since 1-0 on a pair of Thomas free throws that put Auburn-Montgomery ahead, 50-48, with 3:43 left, but Jennings connected twice more from the line and Dawson converted a three-point play to give Southern Poly a 53-50 lead two minutes later and set the stage for the final sequence.

Dawson finished with 14 points for Southern Poly to go along with five rebounds. Jennings chipped in with 14 as well while adding eight rebounds and a block.