Jan. 28, 2010

Box Score

Men's Basketball: No. 16 Kentucky Wesleyan 77, Lewis 65in PDF Format

Romeoville, Ill. - Despite a pair of double-doubles from sophomores Justin Jarosz (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) and Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg), the Lewis University men's basketball team was done in by a poor second-half performance for the second straight game, as the Flyers fell 77-65 to No. 16 Kentucky Wesleyan on Thursday (Jan. 28) night in a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup at Neil Carey Arena.

Strus posted 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Jarosz added 12 points and 10 boards. Lewis sophomore guard Dennis Thomas (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) led the Flyers with 13 points, while guards Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) and David Bryant (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) each scored 10 points in the loss.

Lewis falls to 12-8 overall and 4-7 in conference action, while the Panthers improve to 20-3 on the season and 9-2 in GLVC play.

After shooting 46.4% (13-for-28) in the opening stanza en route to a 31-30 lead at the intermission, the shots wouldn't fall in the second half for the Flyers, as Lewis converted just 37.0% (10-for-27) of their attempts. Kentucky Wesleyan also shot the ball 11 more times than Lewis, thanks in part to 15 offensive rebounds.

KWC guard Desmond Stevens led all scorers with 22 points, including four three-pointers, while forward Jay Ivey chipped in a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Panthers.

With nine minutes remaining, Bryant tied the game at 56 with a trifecta, but the Panthers quickly responded with a 9-0 run over the next 1:46 to give them a lead they would not surrender.

"Kentucky Wesleyan is a good team and we were right there with them," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We have to be able to sustain and be consistent throughout the entire game and we just haven't been doing that. We have to learn from this and get better.

"I thought they out-toughed us, and that was the bottom line, especially in the second half," Trost continued. "They just took it to us and we just have to fight back."

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday (Jan.30) afternoon when they welcome No. 2 Southern Indiana to Neil Carey Arena 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 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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