Shorter College head men's basketball coach emerged from the Hawk locker room following his team's contest with Lee University on Thursday night with the appearance of a heavyweight boxer who had just gone 12 rounds with a prize fighter.

Despite the blood and sweat expended over 55 minutes of end-to-end hoops, Warner was certainly glad to be hoisting the championship belt at the final bell.

The Hawks twice forced an additional five minutes with last second buckets and finally pulled away with a hot shooting start to the third overtime en route to a thrilling 92-85, triple overtime victory over No. 13 Lee in front of a packed Winthrop-King Centre.

The victory improved Shorter to 6-0 - the best start ever by a Warner-coached Hawks' squad - and more importantly, gave the Hawks a huge first win in the Southern States Athletic Conference schedule.

"I want us to stay hungry," said Warner, who beat Lee for the second time in his career after scoring a last second victory in Cleveland, Tenn., last season. "I don't want this to be our moment. It is great to get off to a good start in the conference against a very talented and very well coached basketball team.

"We were really fortunate to win - the game could have gone either way - but it is a long, long season."

Several outstanding individual performances buoyed the Hawks on this night, including the mammoth 24-point, 22-rebound effort turned in by junior forward Marqise Wright.

Wright made 10 of 21 from the field and 3 of 7 from beyond the arc in just over 49 minutes of work. He did not score in the final overtime, but kept Shorter's hopes alive with eight of his team's 10 points in the second extra frame.

Senior Ziyadah Carter made his impact felt in the biggest moments. The 6-5 forward knocked down a pair of clutch free throws with 32 seconds left and the Hawks down two in the first overtime.

In overtime number two, Carter followed up a Montagious Brown miss on a fast break lay up to tie the score at 76 with 15 seconds remaining and then blocked Larriquez Cunningham's shot as time expired to force the third OT.

Carter closed out the Flames with a rebound, a steal and another block in the final frame and finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in addition to a trio of blocks.

"I hate to single out anybody because every one of our players made plays tonight," Warner said. "Marqise played well - I don't think I have ever been a part of a 20-20 game. It was really nice to see Ziyadah play the type of basketball that we know he is capable of playing."

Shorter held Lee leading scorer Josh Nofflet to a season-low three points on 1 of 7 shooting, but had to deal with the unconscious play of Flames' guard Jerel Blocker, who poured in a game-high 34 points and added 10 rebounds.

Blocker outscored the Hawks himself, 10-5, to open the second overtime as the Flames built a 76-71 lead with 1:59 to play, but a Wright three and Carter's put back earned Shorter another shot.

With new life in the third, but with leading scorer Jerrenda Wheeler on the bench having fouled out in the first overtime, the Hawks got four points from Darius Steger, a jumper from Carter and a thunderous throw down from Brown to take a commanding 84-76 lead with 1:50 to play.

Of the Hawks' five starters, four logged 42 or more minutes with the only exception being Wheeler, who bowed out after 36 minutes after putting up 13 points and four boards. On the other bench, Lee saw only one player reach 40 minutes of floor time.

"[The amount of minutes] was a concern of ours even without the overtimes because we knew the level of their depth," Warner said. "We preach to keep working and to be prepared when you are called on. What can you say about those guys other than they gave a warrior-like effort?"

Shorter led 33-32 at halftime and by as many as nine, 53-44, in the second half before Lee embarked on an 8-0 run to close within 53-52 at the 7:23 mark.

The Hawks extended their lead back to five with 6:12 to play, but the Flames responded to take a one-point edge, 60-59, with 4:37 remaining. A Steger three and Cunningham jumper ended the regulation scoring as each squad missed potential game-winners in the closing moments.

Steger finished with 16 points and seven rebounds. Brown notched 14 points and six caroms to give the Hawks five players in double figures.

Cunningham added 21 points for the Flames, who drop to 3-2 overall and 0-1 in the SSAC.

The Hawks held Lee to 37.4 percent from the floor and forced 23 Flames' turnovers while out-rebounding the visitors, 66-54.

For Shorter, the turnaround time is minimal, as the team now must turn its attention to Truett-McConnell College on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. as part of the Shorter College Cancer Awareness Classic at the Winthrop-King Centre.

"We told them to enjoy it, but make sure that this is simply a stepping stone for the rest of the season," Warner said. "Enjoy it tonight, but be ready to focus and prepare tomorrow."