Feb. 8, 2007

Box Score

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Despite another big scoring output by Brandon Dagans and Stephan Bolt (Downers Grove, Ill./Downers Grove North)'s 13th career double-double, Lewis dropped an 82-66 Great Lakes Valley Conference decision to Northern Kentucky Thursday night.

Dagans, who tallied a game-high 25 points, was 4-of-5 from 3-point range and 11-of-12 at the foul line. He has scored 20 or more points in 12 of his last 13 games.

Bolt netted 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting and collected a game-high 10 rebounds, giving him 17 career double-digit rebounding games.

However, the Flyers (12-10, 7-7) needed much more to overcome a Northern Kentucky team that played a near-flawless game. The Norse (16-6, 9-5), who lead the GLVC East Division, set a school record by committing only four turnovers and were 14-of-28 from 3-point distance.

Things started well for Lewis as the Flyers jumped out to a 10-4 lead. But NKU turned up the heat on both ends of the floor, outscoring Lewis 39-17 over the final 15:51 of the half to take a 43-27 cushion to the locker room.

As they have so often this season, the Flyers came out strong in the second half. Dagans and Bolt scored six points apiece in a 14-4 spurt that trimmed the NKU advantage to 47-41 at the 15:55 mark.

That was as close as Lewis would get, however, as Northern Kentucky regained command with a Kevin Schappell 3-pointer that pushed the margin to nine points. The Norse took a double-digit lead for good moments later and led by as many as 20 points before settling for the final margin.

Matthew Marino continued his fine playmaking for Lewis, contributing seven assists while committing just one turnover. Dustin Warfield grabbed five rebounds to help the Flyers earn a 33-23 edge on the glass.

Steven Wright, who was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, led NKU with 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Schappell (4-of-7 3-pointers) and Billy Finnell scored 13 apiece, while Vincent Humphrey and James Cripe chipped in 12 apiece.

Lewis plays at Bellarmine Saturday afternoon.