Ryan Lee was fighting the flu, but he wasnt going to let the illness keep him from his mission.

His assignment, along with his Lower Columbia College teammates, was to beat South Puget Sound and get mens basketball coach Jim Roffler his 500th career victory.

Lee posted a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Michael Dupree had a game-high 22 points as the Red Devils claimed a 72-69 win in NWAC Western Division play in newly-renovated Myklebust Gymnasium on Saturday.

The victory, the fourth straight for the 10th-ranked Red Devils, moved them to 7-2 in league and 15-7 overall. It capped a busy night that included christening the new gymnasium and fitness center and the halftime introduction of the newest inductees into the LCC Athletic Hall of Fame.

Fittingly, like many of Rofflers other 499 triumphs, his milestone win was what he referred to as a grinder.

It was a classic grinder like weve had through the years, Roffler said. The guys didnt quit, were very coachable and found ways to make plays and get it done. There was a real calmness along with a toughness to our approach down the stretch.

The Devils, who trailed 39-32 at halftime, used consecutive 3-pointers from Jamie Ford along with free throws from Lee and Dupree to grab a 58-57 advantage their first lead of the game with 7:12 left.

We had a bad start to the game and went back to doing things weve tried to get away from, Roffler said. Its difficult to coach at this level with so many new faces each year that theyre having to learn on the job. Were still a work in progress.

LCCs lead lasted 14 seconds until DeRon Kyle drilled a 3 from the left corner for a 60-58 Clippers lead.

At this point we tried to manage the game and get everyone on the same page, Roffler said. We wanted to be most solid at this phase of the game.

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Red Devils edge Clippers to give Roffler 500th career win