WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball team began its new era on Friday night under new head coach Cole Rose.

Rose faced off against his alma mater Lee University (1-0) where he was the assistant coach until he was hired by the Sailfish in May of 2021. Rose and PBA (0-1) were considered the underdogs in tonight's contest, but Rose and his staff developed a solid game plan which almost resulted in PBA stealing a victory in his first game as head coach. The Sailfish trailed by three down the stretch with a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but the three-pointer by Alexander Gorton was off the mark as PBA came up short, 81-78.

Jalen Cooper led PBA in scoring with a career-high 16 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field with six rebounds and three blocks among several highlight reel-worthy plays. Newcomer Will Lee tallied 14 points in his Sailfish debut with eight assists and four rebounds. Jules Jasmin matched him with 14 points of his own with four rebounds before fouling out down the stretch. Alexander Gorton totaled 12 points with four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Both squads were making their season debuts in tonight's matchup. The first 10 minutes of actions consisted of both teams feeling each other out. The Sailfish led for the majority of the first 20 minutes. Cooper got the Rubin Arena crowd on their feet at the 8:50 mark with a put-back dunk followed by a big rejection on the defensive end to set up another bucket for the second-year player to give PBA a 23-17 lead. W. Lee buried a three-pointer off an assist by Gorton to make it 26-17.

Lee began to make its run with just under four minutes in the first half. The Flames ripped off a 16-2 run by forcing four PBA turnovers during the run. PBA went into halftime trailing 41-36. Cooper had 12 of his 16 points in the first half. Lee scored 15 points off turnovers in the period.

The Sailfish came out of the break firing on all cylinders, erasing the deficit they faced within the first three minutes of play thanks to a 3-pointer from Jasmin, a pair of buckets from Cooper, and a pair of free throws from W. Lee. A layup from Gorton put the 'Fish back in front, 56-54 with 12:49 left to play.

Both teams battled back and forth as the game grew closer to crunch time. The deficit between the 12-minute mark and the three-minute mark never grew more than five points with both teams trading leads. 

The game looked bleak for the Sailfish as Lee took an 8-point lead with two minutes left. PBA never gave up as a turnover and a pair of missed free throws by the Flames allowed Gorton to score four straight points to cut into the lead. A block from Cooper and a bucket from Marcus Montalvo kept the comeback going, making it a 78-76 game with 33 seconds left. Lee missed a crucial free throw down the stretch that allowed PBA to cut the deficit to one with eight seconds left after another basket from Gorton. Lee made both its subsequent free throws to make it a 3-point game. PBA had two chances to in-bound the ball and tie the game but failed to get the trey they desperately needed. Lee escaped with an 81-78 win.

Both teams matched each other on the offensive end, shooting 48 percent from the field. Neither team was very efficient from deep, combining to go 8-for-32 in the game. The difference in the game came down to 21 points for the Flames off PBA turnovers compared to 11 points off turnovers for the Sailfish. 

PBA is back at it again tomorrow with a matchup against West Georgia. The game at Rubin Arena tips off at 2 p.m.