Feb. 1, 2007

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS - Brandon Dagans scored a game-high 25 points, including two key baskets in the closing moments, and Lewis turned away a late Indianapolis charge to beat the Greyhounds 68-62 Thursday night in a key Great Lakes Valley Conference game.

The Flyers, who won for a fourth time in five games, improved to 12-8 overall and 7-5 in conference play. Lewis has won its last three road contests after beginning the season 0-6 away from Neil Carey Arena.

The Flyers never trailed and led by as many as 12 points in the second half. Lewis appeared in command with a 62-52 advantage at the 5:10 mark.

But four missed shots and three turnovers followed, and Indianapolis (11-8, 7-5 GLVC) took advantage by forging a 9-0 run to make it 62-61 with 1:43 remaining.

That's when Dagans, the GLVC's third-leading scorer (18.2 ppg), took over. The sophomore guard hit a jumper in the lane for a 64-61 Lewis lead with 1:22 to play, then made the Greyhounds pay for a turnover by scoring another basket that put the Flyers in front 66-61 with just 25 seconds left.

Indianapolis still had life but failed to capitalize. DeAndre Brock, who was 7-of-8 at the foul line, suffered his only miss of the evening on the front end of a two-shot trip to the stripe, and it was still a two-possession game.

The Greyhounds gathered a Flyer missed free throw with 14 seconds remaining but misfired on a 3-point attempt, and Jason Genova converted two free throws to account for the final score.

Dagans, whose 10-of-14 shooting effort included 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, scored 17 first-half points to send Lewis to the locker room with a 36-25 cushion. The Flyers shot .538 from the floor, including a 6-of-10 effort from 3-point range, while limiting the Greyhounds to a chilly .281 in the opening period.

After Indianapolis assembled an 8-0 run to slice a 27-17 deficit to 27-25, the Flyers roared back with a 9-0 outburst over the final 1:42 of the half. A Genova 3-pointer was sandwiched by a pair of conventional 3-point plays by Dagans in that flurry.

Indy closed the gap to 42-40 by outscoring Lewis 15-6 to open the second half, but the Greyhounds couldn't get over the hump. Genova canned a trey and a jumper, and Stephan Bolt followed with a conventional 3-point play and a fast-break layup to give the Flyers their largest lead, 52-40, with 11:56 left.

Bolt (8-of-11) scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and collected a team-high eight rebounds. Genova tallied nine second-half points and finished with 15, and Matthew Marino led all players with five assists.

Indianapolis got 12 points and six rebounds from Justin Barnard, 12 points from Brock, 11 points from Jordan Barnard and 10 points and 10 rebounds from Braxton Mills.

The Flyers play the second of four consecutive road games Saturday at Saint Joseph's, with tipoff set for 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast online via broadband video streaming at www.NCAAsports.com/DII.