Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score

Men's Basketball: Lewis 68, St. Francis (Ill.) 39 in PDF Format

Joliet, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team scored the game's first 29 points and never looked back, as the visiting Flyers cruised to the 68-39 non-conference victory over neighboring rival, St. Francis (Ill.) at USF's Recreation Center on Saturday (Nov. 28) night.

Sophomore forward Matt Toth (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) and redshirt freshman Troy Peter (Stevensville, Mich./Lakeshore/Western Michigan) topped the Flyers with 12 points apiece. Sophomore center Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds in 17 minutes of action.

In the opening stanza, the Flyers held St. Francis to 3.4% (1-for-29) shooting on their way to a 36-2 lead heading into the intermission. USF center Bruce Watson posted the Saints' first points of the game with a hook shot at the 1:45 mark.

"I thought we pressured the ball well in the first half," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We wanted to make it hard for them to get the ball to Watson, force turnovers and keep them out of the paint. I thought we did a good job and I was pleased with the effort in the opening half."

All 12 players that suited up for the Flyers on Saturday night saw action against St. Francis.

"It's always good to reward guys that work hard in practice and put their time in so they can get some experience," Trost said. "At this point in the season I'm very pleased with where we're at, but there's still a lot of things we need to work on and continue to get better."

USF reserves Robbie Butcher and Ryan Gunderson scored 11 and 10 points off the bench for the Saints.

Lewis opens Great Lakes Valley Conference play on Thursday (Dec. 3) night, as they welcome Missouri-St. Louis to Neil Carey Arena for a 7:45 p.m. (CST) 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 9th largest private, not-for-profit university in Illinois is being honored for the sixth consecutive year by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. For more information please visit www.lewisu.edu.

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