Dec. 4, 2003

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team emphatically halted an eight-game losing skid to Northern Kentucky Thursday night, handing the Norse an 82-69 thumping in an early-season Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown at Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers remained unbeaten in GLVC play at 3-0 and improved to 5-1 overall. Lewis is tied with Southern Indiana and Indianapolis for the early conference lead. Northern Kentucky fell to 5-4, 2-1.

Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) scored 22 points, one shy of his career best, and tallied a game-high nine assists. Steve Turner (Peoria, Ill./Richwoods) came off the bench to score a career-high 21 points.

Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson) was just 5-of-13 from the field but converted all six free-throw attempts and finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) posted his second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 12 boards.

The Flyers' hefty 41-26 rebounding advantage over the Norse included 19 offensive boards. Lewis suffered just eight turnovers while forcing NKU into 17 miscues.

The Flyers also were strong at the foul line for a second straight outing, hitting 18-of-22 for 81.8 percent. After shooting just 60 percent in its first four games, Lewis is 41-of-51 (80.4 percent) at the stripe the past two contests.

The nip-and-tuck first half featured five ties and four lead changes, with Lewis' 19-13 lead at the 9:10 mark the largest advantage. Jesse Rupe hit a jumper at the buzzer to give NKU a 38-35 halftime edge.

The Flyers took their first lead of the second half, 44-43, when Holmes converted a conventional 3-point play at 17:04. Two Holmes free throws gave Lewis the lead for good, 46-45, at 15:26.

The margin stayed in the low- to mid-single digits until the Flyers embarked on an 11-2 run fueled by Turner, who scored seven points in the spurt. The outburst gave Lewis a 72-59 cushion at 5:47, and the Flyers maintained a double-figure lead the rest of the way.

Rupe led all scorers with 23 points and collected a team-high seven rebounds. Kevin Reinhardt and Adam Howell scored 12 points apiece and Brian Lewin netted 10. Sean Rowland had six rebounds and Reinhardt had five assists for the Norse, who shot 53.2 percent (25-of-47) from the floor.

The Flyers held NKU's Mike Kelsey, who came in averaging 16.6 points per game, to just seven.

Lewis gained overwhelming advantages in second-chance points (20-4) and points off turnovers (29-4).

The Flyers host Bellarmine Saturday at 3 p.m.