Feb. 24, 2005

Box Score

RENSSELAER, Ind. - The Lewis University men's basketball team came close but just couldn't get over the hump in a crucial Great Lakes Valley Conference game Thursday night, falling 82-72 to Saint Joseph's.

With only one regular-season game remaining, the Flyers (10-16, 5-14) are in a virtual must-win situation to qualify for the eight-team GLVC Tournament that begins Thursday in Evansville, Ind. Lewis is at Wisconsin-Parkside Saturday afternoon.

Despite not scoring until John Loeffelholz made a layup with 15:35 to go in the first half, the Flyers stayed close with a strong defensive effort. Saint Joseph's (16-10, 11-8) owned a lead of between three and five points for much of the half and took a 34-28 edge into intermission.

After the Pumas bumped their lead up to 10 points by scoring the first two baskets of the second half, Lewis charged back with a 17-8 run that featured scoring by six players and cut the SJC lead to 46-45 at the 12:48 mark. The teams then traded baskets before Saint Joseph's scored six straight points to open up a 54-47 lead.

The Flyers drew no closer than four points the rest of the way but still were within striking distance, 72-65, with 1:29 remaining. From there, however, Saint Joseph's foiled a pair of Lewis 3-point attempts and made enough free throws to secure the victory.

Pat Monaghan topped the Lewis scoring list with 14 points. Randy Wright came off the bench to score 11 on 4-of-5 shooting, and Loeffelholz and Anthony Scala netted 10 apiece. Scala had five assists while Loeffelholz and Steve Turner collected seven rebounds each.

Saint Joseph's was led by Sullivan Sykes (18 points, including 10 of 12 free throws), Ronald Coleman (16 points), Derek Fey (13 points, 12 rebounds), Blake Schoen (12 points) and Devin Thomas (10 rebounds).