Nov. 19, 2008

Box Score

Hillsdale 68, Lewis 65 in PDF Format

Hillsdale, Mich. – There has been no shortage of excitement for the Lewis University men’s basketball team this season as two out of their first three games went down to the wire.

   Unfortunately for the Flyers, they came out on the short end on Wednesday night as Hillsdale forced 22 Lewis turnovers and knocked down three free throws in the final 30 seconds of the contest to earn the 68-65 non-conference victory at Jesse Phillips Arena.

   Prior to Wednesday night’s contest, Lewis had turned the ball over just 17 times in their first two games.

   “I thought we were very careless with the ball tonight,” Lewis University head men’s basketball coach Scott Trost said. “You cannot win on the road with 22 turnovers. I thought we came out flat and did not play with any sense of urgency until the final 10 minutes of the game.”

   Hillsdale center Tony Gugino led the Chargers with 14 points, while teammates Travis Worst and Chris Skaggs each added 10 in the victory.

   With the victory, Hillsdale improves to 1-0 on the season, while the Flyers fall to 2-1 on the campaign.

   Lewis sophomore guard Dennis Thomas (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) topped the Flyers with 23 points, while senior forward Jason Genova (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick/Saint Xavier) added 19 tallies. Sophomore Lonnie Lawrence (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) grabbed a career-high 12 boards for Lewis.

   The Flyers held a 38-37 lead heading into halftime and extended that lead to 42-40, following a lay-up by freshman center Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) at the 18:04 mark of the second half.

   The Chargers, led by four points apiece from Gugino and Skaggs, went on a 15-4 run over the next six minutes to build a 55-46 advantage with 12 minutes remaining in the contest.

   Lewis answered with a run of their own, reeling off a 14-4 run, led by a pair of three-pointers from Thomas to tie the game up at 65 with 2:30 remaining in the game.

  Neither team was able to score over the next two minutes, before Gugino drew a foul from Strus and sent him to the line. Gugino, a preseason All-American, split both charity tosses to give Hillsdale the 66-65 lead with 30 ticks remaining on the clock.

   Genova had a chance for the game-winner with three seconds remaining, but his jumper could not find the bottom of the net and sailed out of bounds. The Flyers were forced to foul on the inbounds play and Hillsdale guard Keith Mackenzie converted both of his free throw attempts to seal the victory for the Chargers.

   Lewis is back in action on Saturday (Nov. 22) afternoon for their home-opener, as they host Northwood for a 3 p.m. tip-off at Neil Carey Arena.

   A Catholic University sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis offers nearly 80 undergraduate majors and programs of study, accelerated degree completion options for working adults, various aviation programs and 22 graduate programs in nine fields. The mid-sized university is being honored for the fifth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. For more information please visit www.lewisu.edu.                                                              

 

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