CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The Union University men's basketball team lost 72-55 at Lee University Thursday night. Union dropped to 14-13 overall and 13-10 in the Gulf South Conference. Lee improved to 18-6 on the season and 17-6 in league play. 

Union dominated the first 10 minutes of play, jumping out to a 19-7 lead thanks to a 14-0 run that ended with a 3-pointer from the reigning GSC Freshman of the Week, Layne Sarver. Lee settled in and chipped away at the Union lead. Lee tied the game at 23-23 and built a 35-31 advantage at halftime. 

Union scored five of the first seven points of the second half and cut the deficit to just one point, 37-36, but that was as close as the Bulldogs could get. With Lee up 47-40, the Flames put the game out of reach with a 10-0 run to lead 57-40 with 8:11 left to play. Lee kept adding to the lead and with 53 seconds left, held its largest lead at 72-50. 

Lee outrebounded Union 40-32 and also won the turnover battle with just nine compared to Union's 15. 
 
Union was led by Justin Debuck with 18 points, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range. No other Bulldog scored in double figures with Tylandrius Parks getting close at eight points. The Bulldogs shot 41 percent from the field, 44 percent (7-16) from 3-point range, and 50 percent (4-8) from the foul line. 

Lee was led by Willingham with 17 points, Hendricks with 15 points, and McGuirk with 14 points. The Flames shot 40 percent from the field, 44 percent (12-27) from long range, and 83 percent (10-12) from the foul line. 

Up next for Union will be the last game of the regular season at Shorter, Saturday at 3 p.m. central time. Union will earn the six-seed with a win, or seven-seed with a loss. A win puts the Bulldogs right back at Lee next Tuesday for a quarterfinal game. A loss sends Union to either West Alabama or Alabama Huntsville in the quarterfinals. Listen locally at 93.1 FM or online through Union's live coverage page. 

-UNION-