Jan. 29, 2004

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Monta McGhee (Chicago, Ill./Robeson) recorded his third consecutive double-double and Anthony Scala (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick) scored a career-high 16 points Thursday to lead 15th-ranked Lewis to an 80-51 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over Missouri-St. Louis.

The victory kept the Flyers (17-2, 11-1 GLVC), ranked No. 1 in the Great Lakes Region, two games ahead of Indianapolis and Southern Indiana in the league standings. Missouri-St. Louis fell to 6-12, 2-9.

McGhee collected 18 points and 12 rebounds, giving him averages of 20 points and 13 rebounds in his three most recent outings. He was 7 of 9 from the field and 4 of 4 at the foul line.

Scala, who scored 13 of his points in the second half, was 4 of 8 overall, 2 of 5 from 3-point range and 6 of 6 at the line. He added three assists.

Demitrius Hunter (Silvis, Ill./United Township) became Lewis' all-time assists leader. His five helpers lifted his career total to 474, surpassing the old standard of 472 set by Charlie Niego (1982-85). Hunter also scored five points to bring his career total to 997.

UMSL's 51 points, 16 field goals and 29.6 percent performance from the field were low marks by a Lewis opponent this season. The Flyers shot a robust 55.6 percent from the floor and were 15 of 17 (88.2 percent) at the foul line.

The game was close for the first several minutes, but the Flyers began to separate themselves from the Rivermen shortly after the midway point of the first half. Leading 15-12 at the 9:34 mark, Lewis embarked on a 21-6 surge and took a 36-18 lead into the locker room.

In typical Flyer fashion, six different players scored during the run. Meanwhile, UMSL missed seven of nine shots and committed five turnovers during that stretch.

The Flyers led by as many as 37 points in the second half before settling for the final margin of 29, their second-largest advantage over a GLVC opponent this season.

Austin Real (Aurora, Ill./Aurora West) scored 12 points and jumped from 13th to 11th place on Lewis' all-time scoring list. Real, who blocked three shots and was 5 of 6 from the floor including a pair of 3-pointers, has 1,283 career points.

Randy Wright (Thomasboro, Ill./Rantoul) had nine points and six assists, Sidney Holmes (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) had eight points and nine rebounds, and DeAndre Williams (Chicago, Ill./St. Francis de Sales) scored eight points for Lewis, which earned a 37-26 rebounding edge.

Jonathan Griffin was 10 of 10 at the foul line and finished with 18 points to lead Missouri-St. Louis.

Lewis hosts Quincy Saturday at 3 p.m.