Nov. 30, 2006

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Jason Genova buried a 3-pointer from the top of the key at the buzzer to lift Lewis to an 83-80 overtime victory over Drury Thursday night in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams.

Genova's trey was the season-high 12th of the night (12-of-26, .462) for the Flyers (4-1, 1-0 GLVC) and his second game-winning 3-pointer of the year. The sophomore transfer's triple with three seconds remaining gave Lewis a 75-72 win over Lake Superior State in the season opener.

The game-winner broke the eighth tie to occur in the second half and overtime. Seconds earlier, Drury's Brandon Kimbrough knotted the score at 80 with a bank shot on an out-of-bounds play.

Following a Lewis timeout, Genova took the inbounds pass from Brandon Dagans, took several dribbles and fired the heroic shot.

Drury (4-1, 0-1 GLVC) built a 28-17 cushion, but Lewis assembled a 14-5 run over the final 5:55 of the first half and trailed just 33-31 at the break.

The Flyers maintained their momentum early in the second half, scoring 11 of the first 15 points for a 42-37 advantage with 16:34 left.

Drury turned the tables, however, and seemed to be in command with a 67-62 lead at the 5:07 mark. But a Genova 3-pointer triggered a 9-0 spurt that put Lewis in front 71-67 with 2:17 remaining.

Drury's Collins Harris brought his team back, however, scoring two baskets - the second one with just three seconds remaining - to force overtime.

Genova and Stephan Bolt scored 21 points apiece to lead the Flyers. Bolt added a game-high 12 rebounds for his seventh career double-double and 11th career double-figure effort on the boards.

Dagans tallied career bests of 20 points and four 3-pointers (4-of-7) and collected five assists, and Dustin Warfield grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds. The Flyers earned a 42-29 edge on the glass.

Warfield also tied his career high of four assists, and Keelan Donald had a career-high four helpers.

Drury leaders were Harris (21 points, eight rebounds), Steven Gum (18 points on 6-of-9 3-point shooting), Tim Brown (13 points, 10 assists), Chris Ijames (13 points) and Kimbrough (12 points, 11 assists). The Panthers were 13-of-23 (.565) from 3-point range.

The Flyers host Rockhurst Saturday at 3 p.m.