The Flames (26-6), ranked No. 12 in the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, will tangle with No. 2-seed and 19th-ranked Southern Polytechnic State University, a 56-53 winner over third-seeded Auburn University-Montgomery earlier in the day, in the title game on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Faulkner, which upset fourth-seeded Emmanuel College in Thursday's quarterfinal round, concludes its season with an 18-13 overall mark.

Lee, propelled by a stellar performance from Blocker, earned the chance for a third straight SSAC Tournament title by outlasting a rugged Faulkner squad.

Blocker, a junior, went 9-for-17 from the floor, 10-of-11 from the foul line and hit a trio of three-pointers. Blocker was the only Lee player to reach double figures, and after Faulkner trimmed a six-point halftime deficit to just one, 38-37, on a pair of Drew Boland foul shots with 11:08 to play, Blocker hit a jumper and three-pointer on consecutive possessions to push the Flames' edge back to 43-37 at the 9:55 mark.

Another three from Chad James and four points from Tyler Cutter capped a game-clinching 12-0 run that put Lee ahead, 50-37, with 7:49 left.

The Eagles, who got a tremendous performance themselves from sophomore Chris Palmore (19 points), played stride for stride with the Flames from that point on, but were never able to get closer than eight points the rest of the way.

Faulkner appeared up to the challenge in a nip and tuck first half that witnessed six ties and a pair of lead changes. Palmore scored eight in the frame to lead the Eagles, but six other Eagles notched two points apiece in a balanced scoring effort. Oneil Mangal was the only other Eagle to reach double digits, posting 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting.

Blocker's 14 first half tallies kept the tournament's top seed afloat in the opening 20 minutes. His three-pointer with 5:19 left in the period tied the game at 17 and back-to-back treys from Stephen McClellan gave Lee a 25-21 lead at the two minute mark.

Blocker closed the first half scoring with a bucket off a dish from Cutter as Lee went into halftime leading, 27-21.