Jan. 29, 2005

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE - Anthony Scala (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick)'s fadeaway baseline jumper with :06 left Saturday gave the Lewis University men's basketball team a thrilling 80-78 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Saint Joseph's.

Steve Turner posted his second collegiate double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds as the Flyers (8-12, 3-10 GLVC) won their first conference home game of the season and snapped the five-game winning streak of Saint Joseph's (12-7, 8-5 GLVC). Lewis has won two of its last three games.

Scala's game-winning shot came just seconds after SJC's Jonathan Pittman made two free throws for a 78-78 deadlock. The Pumas, who trailed by 16 points early in the second half, pulled even for the first time in the closing period, 75-75, on Pittman's layup with 2:15 remaining.

The Flyers responded to an early 7-2 deficit with a 21-4 run that gave them their biggest lead of the first half, 23-11, at the 11:40 mark. Five players scored during the run, with John Loeffelholz (seven points) and Turner (six) leading the way.

Saint Joseph's whittled the Lewis lead to 34-30 with 2:50 left, but the Flyers outscored the Pumas 9-3 and took a 43-33 advantage to the locker room. Lewis outshot SJC .545 to .438 and earned a 24-15 rebounding edge in the first half.

Three-pointers by Scala and Pat Monaghan on Lewis' first two second-half possessions gave the Flyers a 49-33 cushion.

Although Saint Joseph's managed to cut the Lewis lead to single digits on five occasions, the Flyers still led by 10 points, 71-61, with 7:08 left. That's when the Pumas assembled a 14-4 run that ended with the 75-75 tie, setting the stage for Scala's heroics.

Turner, who was 9 of 11 from the floor, added three assists and three steals. Loeffelholz finished with 13 points and five rebounds, Scala scored 12 points, and Dustin Warfield tallied 10 points and tied his career high of eight rebounds.

Randy Wright tied his career best of eight assists and added eight points, while DeAndre Williams collected five assists.

Saint Joseph's was led by Derek Fey (15 points, 14 rebounds, four assists), Pittman (12 points), Sullivan Sykes (12 points, five rebounds, six assists), Blake Schoen (10 points) and Devin Thomas (10 points).

Lewis finished the game with a .559 to .449 shooting advantage and a 39-36 rebounding edge.

The Flyers are idle Thursday and host GLVC leader Southern Illinois Edwardsville next Saturday at 3 p.m.