Jan. 20, 2007

Box Score

ROLLA, Mo. - Every college basketball coach embraces the theory that a team's performances during the first five minutes of each half go a long way in determining a game's outcome.

Lewis emphatically proved that theory true Saturday. The Flyers played some of their best basketball of the season at the beginning of each half, dominating Missouri-Rolla by a combined count of 36-10 on their way to a 79-59 thrashing of the Miners.

Lewis improved to 10-7 overall and 5-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference, tied with Northern Kentucky for third place in the GLVC East Division behind Indianapolis (6-3) and Saint Joseph's (5-3).

And, coupled with a win at Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday, the victory gave the Flyers a 2-0 conference road trip for the first time since the 2003-04 team prevailed at Southern Indiana and Missouri-St. Louis on January 2-4.

Stephan Bolt enjoyed another superior performance, following Thursday's 21-point, 19-rebound effort at UM-St. Louis with 26 points and 14 rebounds. It was the 11th career double-double and 15th career double-digit rebounding total for Bolt, who was 10-of-12 from the floor.

Jason Genova returned to form, connecting on 5-of-12 shots from 3-point range en route to a 24-point output. The backcourt tandem of Matthew Marino and Brandon Dagans tied for game-high honors with seven assists apiece and had just one turnover between them.

After Genova gave Lewis a 5-0 lead with a 2-pointer and a trey, Bolt took over and scored the next eight points. When Dagans netted a fast-break layup, the Flyers had their largest lead of the first half, 15-4.

Missouri-Rolla (7-10, 2-8) forged a 10-1 run that sliced the Lewis advantage to 16-14 at the midway point of the first half. The Miners overcame a nine-point deficit later in the half to trail just 37-35 at intermission.

That's as close as the hosts would come, however, as Lewis reverted to its early first-half form following the break. Bolt scored six points and Marino and Dustin Warfield added five apiece in a 21-6 blitz that put the Flyers on top 58-41, and the rout was on.

Lewis shot .552 (16-of-29) in the second half and finished the game at .500 (30-of-60). The Flyers were 8-of-22 (.364) from 3-point range and 11-of-16 (.688) at the foul line.

Meanwhile, Missouri-Rolla struggled to a 19-of-61 (.311) shooting effort that included a miserable 4-of-28 (.143) from beyond the arc. The Miners were a woeful 1-of-13 from 3-point distance in the first half but stayed close by making 12 of 13 free throws, part of their 17-of-21 (.810) showing for the game.

Warfield and Brandon Alexander supported Bolt by collecting five rebounds apiece as Lewis earned a 41-37 edge on the glass.

Owain Hall (15 points) and Yamani Ball (12) topped the UM-Rolla scoring chart. Tyrone Davidson and Shea Wiemann tallied 10 and nine points, respectively, in the first half, but an early bucket by Wiemann was that duo's only offensive contribution in the final 20 minutes.

Saturday's victory gave the Flyers a 4-2 record against the GLVC West, assuring them of a winning interdivisional mark. The final West opponent for Lewis is Southern Indiana, which brings a top-10 NCAA Division II national ranking and GLVC-best records of 18-2 overall and 7-2 in league play to Neil Carey Arena on Thursday.