MONTEVALLO, Ala. – For the first round of the 2026 Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, No. 2 seed Montevallo is set to host the No. 7 seed Lee Flames at 7 p.m. on Monday night.
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Montevallo earned the No. 2 seed in the GSC tournament after finishing the regular season with a 17-5 conference record while adding a 21-7 mark overall. The Falcons posted a 4-2 record in nonconference action to start the season before falling th Lee, 75-51, on Dec. 4 for UM's conference opener. Montevallo then went 4-1 for the rest of December with wins over Trevecca Nazarene, Delta State, Mississippi College, and Christian Brother before falling to Union on the road on Dec. 20. Montevallo then returned for an 89-62 win over Auburn Montgomery at home before topping Alabama Huntsville on Jan. 8. The Falcons fell in back-to-back games against West Alabama and Valdosta State before sparking an eight-game winning streak with a 97-87 road win over West Florida on Jan. 17. The Falcons then added a home win over TNU before getting revenge against Lee with a 71-66 win on Jan. 24. Montevallo's Mississippi road trip featured two wins over DSU and MC before returning to Central State Bank Arena for wins over Union and CBU to open February. Montevallo closed its winning streak with a 73-60 win over AUM on Feb. 14 before falling to No. 13 West Alabama 66-54 in Livingston, Ala. Montevallo closed the regular season with an 84-60 road win over UAH before topping West Florida, 89-77, on Feb. 25. The regular season finale featured an 86-80 Montevallo win over Valdosta State on Feb. 27.
Montevallo's offense averages 78.9 points per game on a 47.0-percent shooting mark, the third-best in the GSC, while shooting 35.4 percent from three-point range and 75.7 percent from the stripe. On the boards, Montevallo tallied 36.5 rebounds per game with an average of 9.1 offensive rebounds. The Falcons rank fourth in the Gulf South with 15.18 assists per contest for a 1.27 assist-to-turnover ratio with just 12.0 turnovers per game. Defensively, Montevallo ranks second the conference with just 69.1 points allowed per game while leading the conference with an opponent shooting mark of just 40.0 percent. The Falcons allow an average of 35.0 rebounds per game but force 13.5 turnovers per game with a league-high 8.96 steals per game.
Derek Moore leads Montevallo and ranks fourth in the GSC with an average of 18.3 points per game on a GSC-best 61.9-percent shooting while leading Montevallo with 6.9 rebounds per game which ranks seventh in the GSC.
Brandon Fussell follows closely behind with 17.3 points per game for the No. 6 mark in the conference while shooting 45.0-percent from the floor to go along with a league-high 2.0 steals per game and 5.3 assists.
Jaylen Curry adds 12.7 points per game while shooting 48.9 percent from the floor and adding 5.4 assists per game in 27.5 minutes on the floor.
Devon McKinnon rounds out Montevallo's double-digit scorers with 10.0 points per game with a 37.9-percent mark from the field and 80.8-percent from the line while adding 3.0 boards.
Lee enters the post season as the No. 7 seed in the conference tournament with an 11-11 mark in GSC action while posting a 14-12 overall mark in 2025-26. The Flames posted a 3-2 mark in nonconference action to open the season before topping Montevallo in the conference opener. The Flames added a win over AUM on Dec. 6 before falling to UWA, UAH, and UWF in three-straight games in mid-December. Lee closed 2025 with an 87-83 home win over Valdosta State on Dec. 20. In the return from the holiday break, Lee posted an 0-3 record to start January with losses on the road at TNU, MC, and DSU. The Flames then went on a three-game streak with an 83-74 win over Union on Jan. 15 before topping CBU, 82-72, on Jan. 17. Lee added a 95-61 win over AUM on Jan. 22 before falling to UM and UAH in back-to-back games. The Flames took down No. 12 UWA, 77-51, on Jan. 31 before falling to VSU and UWF to open the month of February. On Valentine's Day, Lee picked up a home win over TNU, 72-68, before falling to Delta State at home. Lee ended the regular season with three-straight wins after topping MC, 81-74, on Feb. 21 and defeating CBU, 81-68, on Feb. 25. The regular season finale saw an 89-81 Lee win over Union on Friday, Feb. 27.
Lee scores an average of 75.1 points per game on a 48.0-percent mark from the floor which ranks second in the GSC. From long range, Lee shoots 37.5 percent while adding a 71.7-percent clip from the stripe. On the glass, Lee averages 33.5 rebounds per game with 9.0 offensive rebounds per game while ranking just above Montevallo with 15.46 assists per game. Defensively, Lee allows 72.8 points per game for the No. 3 mark in the league with opponents shooting 45.1 percent from the floor. Lee allows just 32.4 rebounds from opponents for the second-lowest mark in the conference while forcing 11.3 turnovers per game with 6.68 steals.
Tylon Chatman leads Lee with an average of 14.1 points per game on a 45.7-percent shooting clip while adding a 38.8-percent mark from deep with 3.8 assists and 3.1 per game. Zach Gray ranks second on the team with 13.3 points per game while shooting 49.6 percent from the floor with 3.7 rebounds per game while Ben Ritger scores 11.2 points with a 48.0-percent mark and 3.5 rebounds. Willie Walton is the fourth and final double-digit scorer for Lee with 10.7 points per game while leading the squad with 6.8 rebounds per game. Dayveun Anderson ranks fifth in the GSC with 4.3 assists per game while shooting 38.7 percent from the floor for 9.3 points per game.
