The Lee University basketball teams had no trouble moving into today’s Southern States Athletic Conference tournament semifinals in Montgomery, Ala. The East top seeds beat the Mobile women 83-58 and the Loyola (La.) men 81-63 in Thursday’s first games and will play the Coastal Georgia women and the Faulkner men at 3 and 5 p.m. EST today. Myriah Iles had 18 points and eight rebounds for Lee’s Lady Flames (28-2), ranked seventh in NAIA Division I, while Jenna Adams and Karley Miller had 12 and 11 points and nine and 10 rebounds and Julia Zimmerman also scored 12 points with 4-of-7 3-point shooting. Hollie German and Brooke Hamby contribued eight and seven assists. Coastal Georgia beat Auburn-Montgomery’s women 68-46. Will Barnes scored 23 points and Steve Bennett had 16 points, 16 rebounds and five blocked shots for the second-ranked Flames (29-2), while Duran Blue and Chase Dunn scored 10 points each with five and three assists. Faulkner’s guys beat Southern Wesleyan 79-64.
• Travaris Clarke scored 21 points and Weedlens Beauvil and Rashaud Bell added 12 apiece while Hampton Mack had 10 rebounds and 10 points in Tennessee Temple’s 108-57 basketball win Thursday against Knoxville College. That was the 10th win in a row for the Crusaders (19-11).
Golf
• The Tennessee PGA announced that Hunt Gilliland, the director of golf at Council Fire, has been named the section PGA professional of the year. Gilliland, who serves as the honorary president of the Tennessee PGA, won the award for the third time in his career (2002, 2009). Chattanooga Golf and Country Club head professional Bruce Etter received the Bill Strausbaugh Award for his contributions and mentorship to fellow PGA pros.
• Former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga standout Emma de Groot finished second in the Australian Ladies Professional Golf Tour’s Club Car Series this year in her native country. She had a playoff win and three-top finishes as the tour completed its season, including a runner-up showing. She plans to play in the Symetra Tour this summer in the United States.