BRISTOL, Tenn. – The No. 11 seed Erskine College men's basketball team (11-18, 6-14 CC) defeated No. 8 seed Lees-McRae College (13-16, 10-0 CC) by a score of 88-85 in the opening round of the 2025 Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship at the King University Student Center Complex on Sunday night, marking the Fleet's first conference tournament game victory since the 2012-13 season.

Erskine made seven first-half threes and held a five-point lead at the break, and then led by as many eight in the second half, as the Fleet controlled the game for most of the evening, leading for almost 33 minutes. The Fleet's balanced proved to be the difference, with five different Erskine players reaching double figures, led by 14 points apiece from Moses Cheek, Grant Lovette, and Christian Monroe.

The Bobcats made a run in the final minutes, but Erskine went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the last minute of the game, capped by four clutch free throws from Makayl Rakestraw, helping the Fleet hold on for a monumental postseason victory.

GAME STATS vs Lees-McRae (W 88-85)
POINTS: 3 players with 14
REBOUNDS: Zion Brown (6)
ASSISTS: Ja'Hiem Handy (7)
BLOCKS: Zion Brown (2)
STEALS: Moses Cheek (2)

THE PLAYER
A number of Erskine players made key impacts to the win, but arguably none more so than point guard Ja'Hiem Handy. Handy scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, dishing out a a game-high 7 assists, and helped the Fleet commit just 9 turnovers as a team against one of the premier defensive teams in the conference.

THE TEAM
Erskine shot 44% (30-68) from the field and 33% (11-33) from the three-point line, as well as an impressive 81% (17-21) from the free throw line. The Fleet got 54 points from its bench, as nine different Erskine players got in the scoring column, and Erskine won the turnover battle, 12 to 9.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
The 11th seeded Flying Fleet move on to the second round of the 2025 Atlantic Casualty Insurance Conference Carolinas Men's Basketball Championship, where they will play at the No. 4 seed, King University (17-11, 15-5 CC) on Monday night at 7 p.m. with a trip to the quarterfinals on the line.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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