Jan. 9, 2010

Box Score

Men's Basketball: Illinois-Springfield 77, Lewis 71 in PDF Format

Springfield, Ill. - Heading into their fourth and final game of their current road trip against Illinois-Springfield, the Lewis University men's basketball game had found themselves in each and every game, but on the losing end of all three contests.

The Flyers were in the same predicament against the Prairie Stars on Saturday (Jan. 9) afternoon, as UIS scored 53 second-half points to rally from a 12-point deficit and earn the 77-71 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Lewis at The Recreation and Athletic Center.

"We just couldn't get a stop on the defensive end in the second half," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "I thought we'd hang our hat on our defense, but to give up 53 points in the second half is unacceptable.

"Coming into today, I thought we had competed on this road trip and gotten better," Trost continued. "We took a step back and that's frustrating."

With the victory, Illinois-Springfield improves to 6-5 overall and 3-3 in GLVC action, while the Flyers fall to 9-6 on the campaign and 1-5 in conference play.

UIS senior guard Richard Oruche topped the Prairie Stars with 23 points, followed by Justin Simms (16 points) and Ryan Thornton (11 points). Oruche was the catalyst for the Prairie Stars in the final 20 minutes, scoring 19 of his 23 points.

As a team, UIS shot 56.6% (17-for-30) from the field in the second half and 41.6% (5-for-12) from three-point range. The Prairie Stars also out-rebounded Lewis, 42-30 on the afternoon.

Lewis sophomore guard Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) paced the Flyers' offensive attack with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting, tying a career-high with four three-pointers. Junior guard Dennis Thomas (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) added 19 points and six assists in the loss, while classmate Donald Rowe (Kansas City, Kan./Wyandotte/Independence C.C.) had 12 points.

McClellan provided the Flyers with their final lead of the afternoon, as he knocked down a three-pointer to push Lewis to a 66-65 advantage with 2:25 left in the contest.

UIS countered with an 8-0 run over the next minute, led by six points from Simms, giving the Prairie Stars the 73-66 lead over Lewis with 34 seconds left on the clock.

Thomas answered with a three-pointer on the Flyers ensuing possession, cutting UIS' lead to 73-69 with 29 seconds remaining.

Forced to foul, Lewis sent UIS to the line four times over the next 13 seconds, and the Prairie Stars knocked down all four of their free throw attempts to secure the win.

Lewis returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 14) night, as they host Rockhurst for a 7:45 PM 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 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.

##LEWIS##