Dec. 30, 2006

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team used big offensive surges at the beginning of each half to defeat Carthage 78-60 Saturday night.

The Flyers, playing their final non-conference game of the season, improved to 7-5. Carthage, ranked 18th in NCAA Division III, fell to 8-2 and saw its six-game winning streak end.

Lewis raced to a 15-0 lead in the first seven minutes. Jason Genova, who led all scorers with 21 points, and Brandon Alexander, who tallied a season-high 16, netted six points apiece during the run.

After Carthage sliced the Lewis advantage to 17-12 with 8:15 to play in the first half, the Flyers regained command. Dustin Warfield scored five of his 15 points during a 9-2 spurt that stretched the home team's lead to 26-14 at the 6:05 mark.

Carthage, one of four College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin teams ranked in the Division III top 25, finished the half strongly. The Red Men trailed just 35-28 at halftime despite shooting just 37 percent from the floor to Lewis' 54 percent.

Carthage cut the Lewis lead to 37-33 in the first minute of the second half, but that's when the visitors' comeback hit a stone wall. Lewis got 10 points from Genova and seven points from Brandon Dagans in a 17-0 outburst that gave the Flyers a 54-33 cushion, and the Red Men drew no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.

Dagans flirted with a triple-double, scoring 20 points, dishing out 10 assists and tying his career best of eight rebounds.

Alexander collected a season-high eight rebounds and Warfield added six as Lewis earned a 35-27 advantage on the glass that included 15 offensive boards. Matthew Marino contributed a season-high seven assists.

The Flyers shot 54 percent for the game, going 15-of-28 in each half. Carthage, which launched 30 3-point shots (10-of-30), finished at 39 percent.

Milos Vukosavljevic and Navarro Thompson led Carthage with 12 points apiece.

The Flyers resume Great Lakes Valley Conference play Thursday with a home game against Bellarmine. Game time is 7:30 p.m.