Nov. 29, 2003

KENOSHA, Wisc. - Two big offensive spurts, one in each half, carried the Lewis University men's basketball team to a 75-61 victory over Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams.

Lewis improved to 3-1 overall, while Wisconsin-Parkside slipped to 2-2.

After the Flyers used two Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) buckets and the first of Randy Wright (Thomasboro, Ill./Rantoul)'s three 3-pointers to sprint to a 7-2 lead, Wisconsin-Parkside rattled off six straight points to take an 8-7 edge with 14:13 left.

Lewis quickly made sure that would be the Rangers' only lead of the contest.

Utilizing their trademark balanced attack, the Flyers got points from six players in a 17-2 run that gave them a 24-10 cushion with 7:06 to play. The lead dipped below 10 points on two occasions before Lewis charged to a 41-25 halftime advantage.

The Flyers turned out the lights by dominating the first eight minutes of the second half. Wright's final 3-pointer at 12:19 capped a 17-4 explosion that gave Lewis its biggest lead, 58-29, and the Flyers cruised from there.

Lewis shot 54.2 percent (32-59) from the field overall and 50 percent (8-16) from 3-point distance, while the Flyer defense limited Wisconsin-Parkside to 42.4 percent (25-59) and 30.8 percent (4-13). Lewis committed just 11 turnovers to Parkside's 16.

Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) and Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson) led the Flyers' balanced scoring effort with 14 points apiece. Wright scored 13 points, Holmes tallied 12 and Austin Real (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West) added 10.

McGhee and Real topped the Lewis rebounding chart with seven each, while Wright and McGhee collected five and four assists, respectively.

Marc Forbush, who was 4-of-5 from 3-point range, finished with a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds and four assists. Kevin Boutelle registered 14 points (6-7 shooting) and six rebounds, and Glenn Barlow had 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds as the Rangers, aided by 16 offensive rebounds, gained a 38-27 edge on the boards.

The Flyers travel to Saint Joseph's Monday night and host Northern Kentucky Thursday at 7:30 p.m.