Dec. 4, 2008

Box Score

Southern Indiana 73, Lewis 67 in PDF Format

Romeoville, Ill. – The Lewis University men’s basketball team climbed and climbed, but could not quite get over the hump as Southern Indiana staved off a late Flyer rally and earned the 73-67 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory at Neil Carey Arena on Thursday night.

   USI junior guard Marvin Gray topped the Screaming Eagles with 17 points, while teammates Brandon Russ and Anthony Pimble added 15 and 12 points respectively.

   With the victory, Southern Indiana improves to 8-2 overall and 1-0 in GLVC action, while the Flyers fall to 4-2 on the campaign and 0-1 in conference play.

  Lewis senior forward Jason Genova (Chicago, Ill./St. Patrick/Saint Xavier) led the Flyers with 15 points, including four three-pointers, followed by 14 points from senior guard Brandon Dagans (Harvey, Ill./Thornton) and 13 tallies from sophomore guard Dennis Thomas (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech).  

   Southern Indiana held a 62-55 lead over the Flyers with 6:05 remaining in the contest before Lewis went off on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes, highlighted by Genova’s game-tying trifecta, his fourth of the night, to even up the score at 62-apiece with 4:13 left in the game.

   Pimble answered Lewis with a run of his own, as he scored the Screaming Eagles next five points to propel USI ahead 67-62 with 2:42 left in the contest. Both teams traded possessions before Thomas knocked down a three with 1:34 left in the game to bring Lewis within two points at 67-65.

   Gray missed a jumper on the ensuing possession, but Dagans was unable to convert the lay-up at the other end, giving USI another opportunity. USI coach Rick Herdes called a time-out and senior guard Kenny Love found the ball in his hands with 37.5 seconds remaining.

   Love dribble drove and found Russ alone under the basket for a game-clinching dunk with 24 seconds left in the game.

   “I thought we competed, but there were a couple of key possessions that we didn’t get rebounds when we needed them,” Lewis University head men’s basketball coach Scott Trost said. “They got some putbacks and open looks.

   “We missed some easy shots, but give them credit,” Trost continued. “They made plays and we didn’t.”

    Lewis opens GLVC road action on Saturday afternoon, as the Flyers take on Missouri-St. Louis for a 3 p.m. tip-off.

   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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