Robert Lee Jr. guides Flint Beecher to 10th title with 64-50 win over Traverse City St. Francis

EAST LANSING — Flint Beecher senior Robert Lee Jr. held court during Saturday’s Division 3 championship game at Michigan State’s Breslin Center.

The 6-foot-2 swingman was both judge and jury — especially in the third quarter — as he laid down the gavel leading the Buccaneers (24-4) to their 10th state title in school history against Traverse City St. Francis, 64-50.

Lee put Beecher on his back in the third period, sparking a 17-5 run while scoring 13 of his game-high 29 points to help erase a 30-27 halftime deficit.

Lee made 12 of 19 field goal attempts, and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Bucs, who last won a state title at Breslin in 2021. Their total of 10 (with seven coming since 2012) is second all-time in the state.

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A pregame shootaround during the day certainly helped Lee.

“Before the game, we went and got us some shots at a high school,” Lee said. “And usually when I get up shots before the game, it just feels good.”

Lee's good feeling gave second-year coach Marquis Gray, a former MSU player, his first championship, as Beecher was making its 14th finals appearance overall.

“Last year I brought my whole team here (to the press conference) and it was a different kind of tears we were crying,” Gray said. “It was tears of hurt, tears of disappointment and that’s something that we talked about, not just tonight, but all year long. I constantly reminded the guys of that feeling. We’re fortunate and blessed to come away with a title tonight.”

Jaylen Townsend and Kevin Tiggs Jr. chipped in with nine and eight points, respectively, for Beecher, which connected on 25 of 51 shots from the floor (49%).

Senior guard Wyatt Nausadis led the Gladiators (24-5) with 20 points, and senior center John Hagelstein added 12 points and seven rebounds. Drew Breimayer contributed nine points, but St. Francis was unable to overcome 16 turnovers against Beecher’s three-quarter court trapping defense.

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After trailing by three at the half, Lee scored six straight points in the third quarter to catapult Beecher ahead to stay, and the Gladiators were unable to get closer than five the rest of the way.

“He (Lee) hit a few tough jumpers early,” St. Francis coach Sean Finnegan said. “And when we try and keep a team in the 40s, you come out and give up 27 in a half, which is more than we normally like to give up in a half. He comes out and hits three quick jumpers — that’s not a good start. But he’s a good player.”

With both of his calves cramping up, Lee had to take a seat on the bench near the tail end of the third quarter, but the damage had already been done.

“I tried to do everything to prevent it, but it didn’t work ... apple cider vinegar, the trainer came over and gave me some stuff, pickle juice, it just didn’t work,” Lee said. “I had to fight through because it was just cramps. I know if we get the final win, it would feel good.”

In the second quarter, St. Francis went up 30-23 with 1:01 left on a pair of free throws by Hagelstein. But Beecher got within 30-27 at intermission on baskets by Damarcus Burke Jr. and Keyonta Menefield (following a steal) in the final 30 seconds.

Nausadis scored 11 in the half for the Gladiators, who made 12 of 22 first-half shots (54.5%). Lee led Beecher with 11 points as the Buccaneers shot 50% (12-for-24). And despite having the lead, St. Francis committed seven turnovers to Beecher’s three.

Beecher bolted out to an 8-0 lead to start the game capped by Lee Jr.’s dunk with 5:09 to go in the first, before a short jumper in the key along with a 3-pointer by Nausadus stopped the bleeding.

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“We got down eight right away, just kind of had to get our feet out of the sand a little bit defensively,” Finnegan said. “It was good to see that first basket go in because sometimes it breaks the ice a little bit.”

The Gladiators then came all the way back closing out the first with 12-7 run capped by a Nausadis 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded from 40 feet to give St. Francis a 17-15 advantage.

“We had good first half, put ourselves in a good position,” Finnegan said. “Second half, they made a couple of runs and they’re going to do that. We just struggled to finish at times and gave up a few easy looks that were a little uncharacteristic, but I can’t say how proud I am of the boys, and the fact that we’re here and the opportunity we had, and battled the way we did today.

Ironically, the two teams met in the 2012 Class C finals with Beecher prevailing, 74-60.

“Our road wasn’t easy,” Gray said. “We got down in some games and we could have easily hung our heads, but we continued to fight back and we continued to believe. And one of my favorite books said that, ‘You don’t have to have a gigantic belief, you just have to have the faith of a mustard seed.' And we were fortunate and blessed to get it done.”

Beecher, subbing in three players at a time mainly against the St. Francis starting five, continued to ramp up its defensive pressure over the final two quarters.

“We’re pretty used to the pressure and we’ve played against a lot of pressure this year,” Nausadis said. “I don’t think that’s the main reason we folded, but that was a part of it.”

The starting quarterback on St. Francis' Division 7 state runner-up football team, the 6-foot-4 Nausadis will be sorely missed, too, when it comes to the Gladiators’ basketball program.

“It’s unbelievable, you’re going to ask me a question that is going to make me cry, which doesn’t happen often,” Finnegan said. “He’s been unbelievable — four years. It’s four of my six years at St. Francis. It’s going to be really weird to be at practice without No. 1 in the building. Can’t express enough what he’s done in the program and the future.”

Meanwhile, Lee’s performance in his final game for the Bucs will rate right at the top in the Beecher history books.

And it all started with Gray’s “tough love” when he had Lee, then a ninth-grader, when he was serving as Mike Williams’ assistant coach.

“I know he has greatness inside of him and tonight he showed that, even while he was cramping,” the Beecher coach said. “While he was cramping, he was still able to make plays. It shows the growth and maturity process that’s he’s had to go through in order to be able to do that. Because when he was a freshman, he would have given in what he was feeling, but now he is a young man, and his mind is stronger. And because his mind is stronger, he’s a two-time state champion.”

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Robert Lee Jr. guides Flint Beecher to 10th title with 64-50 win