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Preview: Two Top 25 showdowns on tap Saturday in Cleveland
By Matt Green
5 pm: #24 Lady Hawks (16-4) at #5 Lee
(20-1)
7 pm: #1 Hawks (20-0) at #17 Lee (14-4)
Saturday, Jan. 28 • Cleveland, Tenn.
CLEVELAND, Tenn. -- There are natural rivalries and then there are those rivalries that develop over time between programs that always seem to be battling at the top of the standings. In other words, there is Shorter-Berry, and there is Shorter-Lee.
The latter of the two rivalries takes center stage on Saturday night in Tennessee.
Hoops fans will be treated to a pair of delectable Top 25 matchups tomorrow night in Cleveland when Shorter University's Hawks and Lady Hawks travel north to take on Lee University's Flames and Lady Flames at Paul Dana Walker Arena.
The women's game, which tips off the twin bill at 5 pm, features No. 24-ranked Shorter (16-4, 8-2 SSAC) and No. 5-ranked Lee (20-1, 12-0). The men's game, set to follow at approximately 7 pm, pits the top-ranked and unbeaten Hawks (20-0, 10-0) against the 17th-ranked Flames (14-4, 8-3).
The Lee community has planned accordingly for the occasion -- Flames fans are expected to pack out the gym wearing all white in support of a White Out event. Shorter fans making the short trip up I-75 are encouraged to come wearing Shorter Blue.
Both Shorter squads will have to overcome the vocal crowds and very good opponents if they hope to escape with wins.
Shorter's Lady Hawks have beaten Lee in Cleveland twice over the past eight years with the last win a 70-63 triumph in 2009. Shorter upset a ranked Lee squad last year in the Winthrop-King Centre before falling 52-51 in Cleveland several weeks later.
This year's Lee team ranks as one of the best in the SSAC on both ends of the floor. The Lady Flames are third in the conference in scoring offense (72.3 ppg) and first in the league in scoring defense (49.2 ppg). Lee is the top rebounding team in the SSAC, outrebounding opponents by an average of over 12 boards a game.
As always, Lee is driven by excellent guard play. Senior Angela Spann and sophomore Hollie German rank No. 1 and No. 2 on Lee's team in scoring at 14.3 and 13.7 points a game, respectively. Both are hitting over 40 percent of their attempts from 3-point range and are over 73 percent from the foul line.
Shorter's guard tandem of seniors Kelly Ellison and Robyn Foster may be the perfect foils for Lee's backcourt, however.
A top candidate for SSAC Player of the Year consideration, Ellison, a two-time NAIA All-American, leads Shorter at 12.7 points, 7.0 assists and 2.5 steals a game. Foster ranks second on the team in scoring at 11.2 points a game, is shooting a career best 34 percent from 3 and has reached double figures in six of her last seven games.
Shorter could have the advantage inside thanks in large part to senior Brittney Smith, who is enjoying a career season (11.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and is coming off a career-high 20-point performance in last night's win over Brewton-Parker.
On the men's side, the matchup pits two of the most explosive teams in the SSAC.
Shorter and Lee have split in each of the past three seasons with each team winning on its home floor in each of the past two. Last year's pair of meetings were decided by a total of three points with Shorter winning 77-76 in Rome and Lee answering with a 65-63 victory in Cleveland.
Two of the league's top four scorers will be on the court tomorrow night with Shorter's Walter Hill and Lee's Ryan Westbrooks on opposing sidelines. Hill ranks No. 2 in the SSAC at 18.6 points a game while Westbrooks is fourth at 17.8 points per night. Both players are also among the league's top 3-point shooters -- Westbrooks ranks second at 44 percent while Hill is fourth at 42 percent.
Lee will have to find a way to slow the conference's top scoring offense while the Hawks will have to contend with one of the league's stingiest defenses.
Shorter is racking up over 81 points a game thanks to four players that are averaging double figures -- Hill, Anthony Banks (15.0), C.J. Davis (14.3) and Dante Harvey (10.5) -- and an offense that ranks No. 1 in the league in field goal percentage and No. 2 in the NAIA in 3-point field goal percentage.
Lee is yielding only 66 points a game and ranks No. 4 in the nation in 3-point percentage defense, allowing teams to shoot 27 percent from beyond the arc. Led by 6-foot-10, 285-pound center Steve Bennett, the Flames also rank No. 7 in the country in blocked shots and hold teams to under 40 percent shooting from the floor.
Fans will have multiple opportunity to catch the games if they are unable to travel to Cleveland. As always, both games will be available on 95.7 FM The Ridge or by accessing the "LISTEN" link on the Shorter Athletics homepage. You can also watch the game courtesy of the Lee University Video Production Center by visiting the Lee University website (www.leeuniversity.edu) and clicking on the "Live Events" link.
