CARROLLTON, Ga. - It was a tale of two halves on Thursday evening at The Coliseum as the Lee Flames handed the West Georgia Wolves a heartbreaking 80-73 defeat in Gulf South Conference action. 

The Wolves were stellar on defense in the first half, holding the Flames to just 32 points in building a nine-point halftime advantage. But Lee flipped that in the second half, outscoring West Georgia 48-32 in the final 20 minutes to take the seven-point victory. 

For the first six minutes of the contest, the two teams played to a 15-15 draw before the Wolves went on a 6-0 run over the next two minutes, as a steal from Deng Nhial followed by a layup from Kadeim Jones gave West Georgia a 21-15 advantage. Lee fired back, taking the lead with just over 12 minutes left in the period at 27-26. West Georgia finished off the half with a huge run, outscoring the Flames 16-5 in the final eight minutes to take a 41-32 advantage into the locker room at the break. 

In the second half, the UWG lead remained stable for the first five minutes of the period, as the Wolves held a 50-40 advantage with just over 15 minutes left in the contest. Over the final 15 minutes, the Flames outscored the Wolves by a 40-23 count to overtake the lead and hand West Georgia its 10th loss of the season. Lee moved to 11-3 on the year and 6-1 in the conference with the win while West Georgia fell to 4-10 overall and 2-4 against GSC foes. 

Kovi Tate led the way for the Wolves on the night, scoring 20 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. It was the third consecutive game for the junior forward to have double-digits in scoring and rebounding. Jones had 19 points, Seth Brown-Carter added 14 and Michael Zabetakis had 12 to lead the offensive effort for West Georgia in the game. 

The Wolves will be back in action next Thursday evening in the second of three consecutive games in The Coliseum, taking on the Valdosta State Blazers, with the opening tip scheduled for 7:30 p.m.