Dec. 20, 2003

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Austin Real (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West) scored 17 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead Lewis to a 61-55 win over host California State-Bakersfield late Saturday in the championship game of the State Farm Roadrunner Classic.

Real, who tallied 13 points in the Flyers' 82-72 defeat of Fort Lewis Friday, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammate Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson), who tallied a career-high 29 points and added 11 rebounds against Fort Lewis.

Real's scoring effort gave him 1,187 career points and pushed him past Tony Delgado into 18th place on the school's all-time scoring list.

The victory was the eighth in succession for the Flyers (9-1), who host Trinity Christian Dec. 30 before resuming Great Lakes Valley Conference play Jan. 2 at Southern Indiana. USI is the top-ranked team in NCAA Division II and shares the GLVC lead (4-0) with Lewis and Indianapolis.

Lewis led 27-25 at halftime and stayed in front throughout the second half. CSUB (5-1) kept the outcome in doubt, however, and trailed by just two points on five occasions, the last time 45-43 with 4:50 left.

That's when Real took over, scoring 10 points on four successive Flyer possessions in the next 3:25. The senior captain hit a pair of 2-pointers and then nailed his third and fourth 3-pointers of the night, the second giving Lewis a 55-48 lead and control of the game at the 1:25 mark.

Lewis roared out of the gate, with a McGhee basket, a Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) steal and layup and a Real 3-pointer putting the Flyers up 8-0 barely a minute into the game.

But the Lewis offense went sour just as quickly. The Flyers committed eight turnovers and made just one of eight shots during a 10-minute stretch and watched as CSUB grabbed a 13-11 lead with 8:48 remaining.

DeAndre Williams (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales) pulled Lewis out of the doldrums and gave the Flyers a 14-13 edge with a 3-pointer at the 8:11 mark. From that point there were six lead changes and four ties the rest of the half.

Hunter scored 10 points and was the only Flyer besides Real in double figures. Williams scored nine points and McGhee added eight.

McGhee and Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) collected eight and six rebounds, respectively, to lead the Lewis effort on the boards. Holmes had four steals and Randy Wright (Thomasboro, Ill./Rantoul) had four assists.

Martin Rajniak (13 points) and Fred Nichols (12 points, eight rebounds) led CSUB, which shot just 39.2 percent overall and 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from 3-point distance and committed 19 turnovers. The Roadrunners were 13-of-13 at the foul line and gained a 31-28 rebounding edge.

Lewis shot 46.7 percent overall and was 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from 3-point range. The Flyers won despite shooting just 53.8 percent (14-of-26) at the foul line.