Jan. 5, 2006

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE - The Lewis University Flyers picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and earned a thrilling 91-88 overtime victory over Missouri-St. Louis Thursday night at Neil Carey Arena.

Lewis moved to 8-4 overall - a three-game improvement over last season's 12-game record - and 3-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Missouri-St. Louis, whose victory over nationally ranked Southern Indiana is part of one of its best starts in recent years, fell to 8-3 and 2-2.

Jonathan Griffin scored 21 of his game-high 29 points, including the game-tying basket with 0:47 left, in the second half to lead UMSL all the way back from a 21-point second-half deficit. The Rivermen outscored the Flyers 39-18 over the last 13 minutes of regulation, which ended in an 83-83 deadlock.

Troy Slaten's 3-pointer on UMSL's first possession in overtime gave the Rivermen their first lead of the game, but that was the only field goal the visitors would score during the extra session. A Lewis turnover and missed shot gave UMSL a chance to stretch the lead, but the Flyers forced errant 3-point attempts by Sherome Cole and Griffin.

Dustin Warfield, who scored a season-high 20 points, pulled Lewis even with a conventional 3-point play with 3:00 remaining. Warfield then answered two Slaten free throws with two of his own at the 1:06 mark to tie the game at 88.

Slaten's charging foul on UMSL's next possession led to a free throw by Marcus Scott, who tied his season high of eight points, that gave Lewis an 89-88 edge. Scott missed his second try, but Warfield tipped the rebound to Pat Monaghan, who was fouled and sank both free throws to make it 91-88.

UMSL had just 0:08 to force a second overtime, and two desperation 3-point tries were off the mark.

Monaghan, who reached the 20-point plateau for a fifth time this season by scoring 24, nailed three early 3-pointers to power the Flyers to an 18-2 cushion barely five minutes into the game. Lewis led by as many as 19 points on two occasions before settling for a 50-35 lead at the break.

UMSL, which came in as the GLVC leader in free throws made and attempted, most likely stayed atop those categories by netting 29-of-35 at the line, season highs by a Lewis opponent. But the Flyers countered with season bests of 30 made and 43 attempted at the stripe, led by Monaghan's 9-of-10.

Lewis also earned a decisive advantage from the floor, holding UMSL to just .352 - the lowest percentage by an opponent this season - while shooting .500 (28-of-56), the Flyers' third 50-percent or better effort in their last four outings. The Flyers' 91 points are the most they've scored in a GLVC game this season, and their 50 first-half points are the most they've scored in an opening period this year.

Stephan Bolt scored 17 points and collected a team-high nine rebounds, giving him eight consecutive games and 10 games overall as the Flyers' top rebounder. Bolt also had three blocked shots. Kendall Patterson added a season-high seven rebounds, and Brandon Dagans tallied a season-best six assists to go with eight points and five rebounds.

In addition to his game-high scoring performance, Griffin led all players with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Slaten scored 14 points, Cole had 12 and David Ward added 10.

Four Rivermen and two Flyers fouled out of the game, which saw UMSL called for 35 fouls and Lewis whistled for 29. The foul-outs were the Flyers' first of the season.

Lewis, now 6-2 at Neil Carey Arena, continues a four-game home stand Saturday against new GLVC opponent Missouri-Rolla. Game time is 3 p.m.