Nov. 22, 2003

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Lewis scored the first seven points of the game and held an early 10-point lead, but the duo of Marcus Wallace and Mike Hall combined to score 47 points to lead Grand Valley State to an 83-74 non-conference victory over the Flyers Saturday afternoon.

The Flyers (1-1) used two Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) free throws, a dunk by Austin Real (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West) and Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson)'s 3-pointer to grab a 7-0 lead in the first 1:20.

Conversely, Grand Valley (2-1) was in the midst of a horrible start. The Lakers committed five turnovers and four fouls and made just two of 10 shots before the clock reached the 13-minute mark.

After Dean Raven's 3-pointer erased Grand Valley's goose egg on the scoreboard, the Flyers countered with a McGhee basket, a Holmes free throw and Steve Turner (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods)'s 3-pointer for a 13-3 cushion with 16:16 left.

Moments later, the Lakers embarked on a 17-6 run that gave them their first lead. Wallace, who finished with a game-high 28 points, scored seven points during the outburst that gave his team a 20-19 edge at 7:59.

Six lead changes and two ties followed before Grand Valley took the lead for good, 31-30, on a Wallace layup at 5:20. The Lakers led 39-35 at halftime.

After Grand Valley stretched its lead to 52-43 with 13:46 to play, Lewis charged back with a 9-2 spurt. When Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) concluded the run with a free throw, the Flyers trailed 54-52 at 10:46.

McGhee collected the offensive rebound when Hunter missed his second attempt, but Lewis did not convert the chance to tie or take the lead. To make matters worse, Grand Valley scored the next eight points and led 62-52 with 8:55 left.

Real's 3-pointer stopped the bleeding and kept Lewis in the game, but the Flyers drew no closer than five points the rest of the way.

Wallace came off the bench to shoot 10-of-14 from the floor and 7-of-9 at the foul line. He also led the Lakers with seven rebounds. Hall was 6-of-9 from the floor and 6-of-7 at the line for 19 points, 14 in the second half.

McGhee led the Flyers with 21 points and nine rebounds. Holmes tallied 13 points and eight rebounds, Hunter scored 12 points and Real registered 11 points and six rebounds.

Lewis' starting five outscored Grand Valley's starters 60-39. But the Lakers, paced by Wallace's 28 points, earned a 44-14 advantage in bench scoring.

Grand Valley shot 63.6 percent in the second half and 55.1 percent for the game. The Lakers shot a sizzling 82.8 percent (24-of-29) at the foul line.

Lewis was hampered by a 6-of-20 effort (30 percent) from 3-point range and an 18-of-33 performance (54.5 percent) at the stripe. The Flyers shot 40.3 percent overall from the floor, collected 21 offensive rebounds as part of their 37-36 edge on the boards and committed just 14 turnovers while forcing 21 Grand Valley miscues.

The Flyers host Judson Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.