At a recent practice, Paine's players spent a full hour shooting free throws in an effort to correct their woes at the foul line.

The extra work paid off Monday night.

The Lions drained five free throws in the final 30 seconds and held off Voorhees, 68-63, at Carter Gym.

"Hopefully with that extra hour of shooting in practice," Paine coach Ron Spry said, "they'll recognize the importance of free throws."

The Lions notched their first win of the season and put Spry on the doorstep of a major milestone. Spry now owns 499 career wins and will go for No. 500 when Paine plays Saturday at Lane.

"It's fun to me," Lions guard Marcus McDaniel said. "I've never had a coach with that many wins."

Paine (1-2) picked up the victory thanks to clutch free-throw shooting. The Lions entered the game shooting worse than 50 percent from the line (24-for-49). Against Voorhees (2-4), Paine made 12 of 22 from the foul line.

Paine held a three-point lead in the final minute when Najee Tolbert drained one of two free-throw attempts.

McDaniel followed later with two made shots. Julian English then clinched the game with 2.9 seconds remaining with two free throws.

"The first two games were kind of tough," McDaniel said. "But tonight we played better defense. And we made our free throws."

Paine shot 44 percent from the field and had just nine turnovers. Tolbert posted a team-high 14 points, while English had 13 and McDaniel 11.

The Lions led by as many as 10 in the second half, but they couldn't put away the Tigers.

Voorhees shot 50 percent from the field, with five players scoring in double digits.

Calvin Harris led the Tigers with 14 points.

"We still have a lot of things to work on," Tolbert said. "It's a good win, but it's not too impressive."

Joshua Adams came off the bench to give Paine the lead for good in the first half. Adams put back English's missed three-point attempt. Adams then drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Minutes later, Adams swished a 3-pointer from the wing.

The Lions had their biggest lead of the half at eight.

Voorhees used its transition game to close the gap with an assortment of layups. But English quashed the Tigers' rally with seven points over the final 2:12 of the half. Paine led 35-28 at intermission.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.