Dec. 17, 2008

Box Score

UIC 80, Lewis 57 in PDF Format

Chicago, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team rallied from an early 15-point deficit against the University of Illinois at Chicago in the first half and cut the lead to one in the final stanza, but the Flames answered with a 21-2 run on their way to the 80-57 non-conference victory over the visiting Flyers at the UIC Pavilion on Wednesday night.

UIC senior guard Josh Mayo led all scorers with 21 points, including four three-pointers, while senior forward Scott VanderMeer added a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Flames sophomore forward Tori Boyd added 13 points in the victory.

With the victory, UIC improves to 7-2 overall, while the Flyers fall to 5-3 on the campaign.

Lewis sophomore guard Dennis Thomas (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) led the Flyers with 13 points, while senior forward Jason Genova (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick/Saint Xavier) and freshman guard Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) each added 11 points and three trifectas in the loss.

Lewis fell behind early as the Flames scored 20 of the game's first 25 points over the first 7:17 of the contest. The Flyers, however, would not go away quietly as they answered with a 32-18 run, led by 11 points from Thomas, to cut the lead to 38-37 with 14:49 left in the second half.

UIC, however, answered with a 21-2 run over the next six minutes, led by 11 points from Boyd to put the game out of reach for the Flyers.

"I thought we competed tonight, but we ran out of gas," Lewis University head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We fought hard and made it a game, but we missed some shots down the stretch and UIC wore us down inside."

UIC enjoyed a decided advantage on the boards as well as the free throw line, as they grabbed 52 caroms to the Flyers' 28, while attempting 26 free throws to Lewis' nine.

Lewis returns to action tomorrow, as the Flyers host Olivet Nazarene for a 7:30 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.