Lady Flames win in NCAA regional
The Lee University women’s basketball team earned its first NCAA tournament win Friday with a 66-64 defeat of North Alabama in the home of yet another Gulf South Conference rival, Union University. Lee (24-7) was seeded sixth in the region in Jackson, Tenn., and UNA (25-4) was seeded third, and seventh-seeded Valdosta State from the GSC upset second-seeded Florida Southern 63-60 and plays Lee at 6 EST tonight. Erin Walsh had 15 points and seven rebounds, Shelby Brown 13 points, Abby Bertram 11 points and three steals and Carrie Cheeks 10 points and seven rebounds for Lee. Brittany Panetti led the Lions with 21 points and eight rebounds but had a shot blocked by Bertram in the closing seconds, and Emily Wallen got the deflection and was fouled but missed the potentially tying free throws.
GOLF
› Rob Neal and Joey Westmoreland of Dalton lead the 2018 Georgia Four-Ball tournament at Jekyll Island after the first round Friday. They shot a 4-under-par 68, and Chatsworth’s Bryan Deems and Dalton’s Clay Hill are tied for fourth in the championship flight at 71. Rocky Face residents Greg Brock and Matt Oxford and their partners, Tony Patterson of Dalton and Philip Hughes of Kennesaw, respectively, are tied for sixth at 73.2.
BASEBALL
› A two-run bottom of the ninth inning gave Mississippi College a 5-4 GSC baseball win Saturday over visiting Lee, and then the Choctaws added a 1-0 victory with the run scoring in the bottom of the seventh. In the first game. Peyton Meeker had a tworun single and Tyler Payne had two hits and an RBI for Lee (9-13, 3-5), while Miguel Pimentel was 2-for-4 and scored a run.
› Bryan College, ranked 11th in the NAIA, improved to 20-3 for the season and 6-0 in the Appalachian Athletic Conference by beating Bluefield 5-1 and 11-2 on Friday in Dayton, Tenn. Luke Henderson allowed just five hits in eight innings in earning his sixth win of the season in the first game, and Wade Weinburger and Trevor Behrent
homered and Behrent totaled three RBIs.
Fernando Garcia had three hits, a home run, a double and three RBIs in the finale, when Weinburger, Rodney Tennie, Tucker Cain and Cody Young each had two hits. Young and Weinburger each homered and also batted in three runs, the latter scoring three, too. Lake Burris homered as well.
› Piedmont won 6-0 and 6-1 at Covenant in USA South baseball and is 11-6 overall, 8-1 in the league. Caleb Bloye and Joel Johnson each had two hits in game one for Covenant (7-11, 5-4), and Donny Lewis was 3-for5 in game two and scored on C.J. Edmond’s sacrifice fly. Daniel Johnson was 3-for-4.
› Sewanee won 13-0 and 8-1 over the new MUW baseball program Friday. Beau Allen
was 3-for-5 with two triples, three runs and two RBIs in game one for the Tigers (3-12), while Josh Roberts was 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI and Riley Brandvold and
Trey Akins each was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Tyler Dunbar was 1-for-2 with two RBIs, and Drew Mancuso pitched a seven-inning three-hitter with nine strikeouts.
› Cleveland State won 11-9 and lost 10-3 in TCCAA baseball at Motlow State. Joey Roberson was 2-for-3 with two doubles, three RBIs and three runs in the win for the Cougars (14-6, 4-1), and Cameron Payne and Brandon Mason each drove in three runs as well. Payne and Noah Hill each was 2-for-4, Hill scoring two runs along with Trey Martin and Hunter Oliver.
TRACK & FIELD
› Lee University’s Emily Buwalda was sixth in 2:10.40 in the women’s 800-meter preliminaries Friday and races in the final tonight in the NCAA Division II indoor track and field meet at Pittsburg, Kan. Lee’s Justin Brooks was 12th in the men’s 400 prelims, and his twin, Josiah Brooks, will be in the triple jump finals tonight.
FISHING
› University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men’s golf coach Mark Guhne moved up to sixth place in the co-angler standings Friday and won $2,500 in the FLW Tour bass tournament on Lake Lanier in northern Georgia. His two-day total was 24 pounds, 8 ounces.