Columbia (Mo.) Slips Past Lee (Tenn.), 72-69
March 19, 2009
Kansas City, Mo. - Columbia College (Mo.) outscored 14th-seeded Lee University (Tenn.) 12-5 over the last 3 minutes, 18 seconds of the second half to post a 72-69 victory in the first round of the 2009 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Municipal Auditorium Thursday afternoon.
The Cougars trailed 64-60 before scoring 10 of the next 11 points to take a 70-65 lead. Columbia drained five of six free throws in the last 15 seconds to seal the victory. The Cougars were 26 of 32 from the free throw line in the game, including 22 of 26 (84.6 percent) in the second half. Christian Lewis scored 10 of his 12 points from the charity stripe, making 10 of his 11 free shots.
Lee led 32-27 at halftime after making 46.4 percent of its field goal attempts. The Flames were limited to only 16 shot attempts in the second half, making eight of them. Lee made up for the lack of scoring from the field by stroking 16 of 21 free throws from the foul stripe.
Jason Ellis was the main offensive weapon for the Cougars, scoring 16 points on six of eight shooting from the field and 4 of 4 from the free throw line. In addition to Lewis, Joe Flanner also had 12 points and a team-high six rebounds for Columbia. Stephen McClellen led Lee with a game-high 21 points, including 5 of 8 from beyond the arc. Elmar Kuli-Zade netted 19 points.
Columbia advances to play third-seeded Union University (Tenn.) in the second round at 6:15 p.m. CDT on Friday. The Cougars are 27-7 on the season. Lee finishes its season with a 26-8 overall record.
GAME NOTES
Columbia is 4-13 all-time in tournament play and 4-10 in the first round ... Columbia snaps a six-game first-round losing streak ... Lee is 5-6 all-time in the tournament, 4-3 in the opening round ... In 2008, Lee played into the Elite Eight ... loss by Lee also marks the fourth straight year the No. 14 seed has fallen in the opening round.
