Jan. 15, 2005

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE - Dustin Warfield scored a career-high 24 points and DeAndre Williams had career scoring and rebounding bests Saturday, but a 25-of-26 performance at the foul line lifted Missouri-St. Louis to a 76-74 Great Lakes Valley Conference win at Neil Carey Arena.

Warfield, who scored 12 points in each half, was 9 of 10 from the floor and 5 of 6 at the free-throw line. Williams tallied career highs of 16 points and eight rebounds and added six assists.

Anthony Scala and Ian Jones posted career bests of six assists and six rebounds, respectively, for the Flyers, who fell to 5-10 overall and 1-8 in the GLVC. Missouri-St. Louis improved to 4-10 and 3-7.

After UMSL made 25 consecutive free throws, the Rivermen's miss on their last attempt with eight seconds left gave Lewis a chance to tie or win the game. But a final attempt was off the mark, and UMSL won for the first time ever at Neil Carey Arena.

UMSL led 40-35 at halftime and built the margin to nine points after scoring the first four points of the second half.

The Flyers responded strongly to the challenge, assembling a 15-4 spurt that gave them their only lead of the game, 50-48, with 12:14 left. Warfield keyed the run with eight points and put Lewis on top with a steal and layup.

The Rivermen struck back with a 15-5 outburst that put them on top 63-55, but Lewis refused to fold. Pat Monaghan (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Fremd)'s 3-pointer at the 1:18 mark made it 73-70, and Warfield's layup with 29 seconds to play sliced the UMSL lead to a single point.

Two Joey Paul free throws for UMSL were followed by Williams' layup, and it was 75-74 when Paul stepped to the line. He made the first and missed the second to leave the door open for Lewis, but the Flyers didn't get their final shot to fall.

Warfield also sparked Lewis in the first half. With UMSL leading 20-8 at the 12-minute mark, the freshman proceeded to score all 12 of his first-half points, including a pair of conventional 3-point plays, to help the Flyers slice their deficit to just five points at the break. Williams added seven points during that stretch.

UMSL's Jonathan Griffin scored 20 points in the first half, finished with a game-high 26 and added five rebounds and five assists. Griffin was 10 of 10 at the foul line. Aaron Green netted 20 points and six rebounds, and David Ward and Derrell Minner grabbed eight rebounds apiece.

Lewis hosts Lincoln Christian College Monday in a non-conference game that tips off at 7:30 p.m.