Jan. 17, 2004

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis University's tenacious defense may have enjoyed its finest hour during Saturday's Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown against Indianapolis.

Lewis held Indianapolis without a point for the first seven minutes of the second half during a 17-0 run, then denied the Greyhounds on a pair of 3-point attempts during the closing seconds to hold on for a 66-63 victory in a battle of nationally ranked teams.

The win opened a two-game lead in the conference standings for 14th-ranked Lewis (15-1, 9-0 GLVC), while seventh-ranked Indianapolis (15-2, 8-2 GLVC) remained in second place.

The Flyers hope the win will catapult them into the top 10 and, more importantly, earn them the No. 1 ranking in the first NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region poll that comes out Tuesday.

In addition, the Flyers set school records of 14 consecutive wins overall and nine straight conference victories, and improved their record at Neil Carey Arena to 9-0 this year and 23-1 since the start of last season.

Indianapolis scored the last five points of the first half and took a 33-31 lead into the locker room.

Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) scored on a layup and a dunk, and Randy Wright (Thomasboro, Ill./Rantoul) hit a 3-pointer to ignite the Flyers' 17-0 barrage after the break.

Then it was Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson)'s turn. The senior forward scored 10 of his game-high 27 points to finish the Lewis flurry, which ended with the Flyers holding a 48-33 cushion at the 13:30 mark.

Indianapolis chipped away at the large deficit and trailed 65-63 with :58 to play following a Lawrence Barnes 3-pointer.

Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) missed a 3-point try on the Flyers' next possession but got his own rebound and passed to Wright, who was fouled and made one of two free throws.

Following a Greyhound timeout, David Logan's 3-point attempt to tie missed the mark and was rebounded by McGhee, who was fouled. McGhee missed both free throws to leave the door open, but another Logan 3-pointer failed to connect as time expired.

The teams exchanged scoring runs in a first half that featured eight lead changes and six ties.

Lewis' 10-0 flurry that gave the Flyers an 18-13 lead was followed by Indy's 7-0 run. The Flyers responded with an 11-4 spurt that put them in front 29-24, only to see the Greyhounds grab the halftime lead with a 9-2 run.

McGhee's 27 points were two shy of his career best, and he added seven rebounds. Holmes scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and collected a team-high nine rebounds.

Hunter tallied eight points, five rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots, but his biggest contribution was shutting down Logan. The Greyhound junior guard, who entered the game as the GLVC's most proficient 3-point shooter (3.00 per-game average) and second-leading scorer (20.6 ppg), managed just 10 points on 3-of-16 shooting and was 0-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Barnes led Indy with 12 points. Jason Wright scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

Lewis held Indianapolis to its lowest point total of the season and a 38.3 percent shooting effort, well below the Greyhounds' league-leading 50.2 percent. Indy also entered as the GLVC leader in 3-point accuracy (43.7 percent) and 3-point field goals per game (8.88), but the stifling Flyer defense limited the Greyhounds to just 4-of-22 (18.2 percent) from beyond the arc.

The Flyers hit the road next week for games at Bellarmine (Thursday, 8 p.m.) and Kentucky Wesleyan (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.).