Jan. 6, 2007

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Lewis rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to trail Northern Kentucky by just two points in the game's final moments Saturday, but the Norse held on for a 72-66 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers (8-6, 3-3 GLVC), who beat Bellarmine 71-66 Thursday after trailing 41-28 at intermission, suffered its first home loss in eight games this season. Northern Kentucky improved to 8-4 overall and 2-3 in league play.

NKU entered the game as the GLVC leader in 3-point shooting and proved why in the first half. Five different Norse players made at least one trey, and the visitors were 8-of-14 from beyond the arc - including a 3-pointer on four consecutive possessions in a 12-0 run - en route to a 42-25 halftime cushion.

Lewis gradually whittled its deficit to single digits, 54-45, with 11:49 left. Kevin Schappell, who led all scorers with 23 points, hit a pair of baskets and Billy Finnell made two free throws to extend the NKU lead to 60-48 at the 8:59 mark.

A traditional 3-point play by Brandon Dagans ignited a 12-2 Lewis surge that put the heat on NKU. Stephan Bolt scored eight of his 15 second-half points during the run, and the Flyers had closed the gap to 62-60 at the 2:59 mark.

Jason Genova gathered Bolt's missed free throw that would have sliced the Norse lead to a single point, but the Flyers couldn't capitalize on the second chance. Anthony Teague buried a 3-pointer on NKU's next possession to give the Norse a 65-60 advantage with 2:06 remaining.

NKU left the door open by missing four of its next six free-throw attempts. But after Bolt's tip-in made it 69-66 with :07 left, Finnell swished two from the stripe to secure the win for the Norse.

Bolt led Lewis with 22 points and a career-high 18 rebounds (six offensive), recording his ninth career double-double and 13th career double-digit rebounding total. He tied for the best rebounding performance by a GLVC player this season.

Dagans scored 20 points, giving him 20 or more in five consecutive games, and added six rebounds. Dustin Warfield scored 11 points, Genova grabbed six rebounds and Matthew Marino tallied a game-high five assists.

Finnell posted 10 points and four assists for NKU, which shot .545 overall and .500 (11-of-22) from 3-point range. Leading scorer Steven Wright was held to four points, 13 below his average, but led the Norse with eight rebounds and added four assists.

The Flyers' 40-28 advantage on the boards included a season-high 17 offensive rebounds. Lewis committed a season-low eight turnovers, including just two in the second half.

The Flyers travel to Wisconsin-Parkside next Saturday. Game time is 3 p.m.