Dec. 4, 2010

Box Score

Men's Basketball: Missouri-St. Louis 69, Lewis 66 in PDF Format

St. Louis, Mo. - With the score tied at 66, Missouri-St. Louis junior guard Dominic Williams grabbed a Lewis rebound, pulled up from 35-feet and drained the game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer to give the host Tritons the 69-66 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over the visiting Flyers at the Mark Twain Building on Saturday (Dec. 4) afternoon.

Williams finished the game with nine points, all on three-pointers, and a team-best six rebounds. UMSL junior guard Gerald Fulton scored a game-high 21 points - all in the first half - and Justyn Watkins added 19 points in the win. Tritons center Zach Redel posted 11 points, including four tallies over the final 3:27 of the game.

With the victory, UMSL improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in GLVC action, while the Flyers are now 4-5 on the campaign and 1-1 in conference play.

Lewis junior center Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) topped the Flyers with 17 points. Lewis senior guard Dennis Thomas, Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) added 14 points and four assists, while his backcourt mate Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) chipped in 13 points, including three trifectas. Junior forward Jerome Robinson (Skokie, Ill./St. Patrick/Morton College) came off the bench to post eight points and a team-season best 15 rebounds.

UMSL was hot out of the gates, as the Tritons, behind Fulton's 21 points, took a 44-31 lead heading into the intermission. In the first half, UMSL converted 59.3% (16-for-27) of their field goal attempts and knocked down 57.1% (8-for-14) of their three-point attempts.

While the Tritons' built a lead as big as 18 points in the first half, Lewis would not go away quietly. Strus keyed a 27-10 run to open the second half with nine points to propel the Flyers to the 58-54 lead with 7:15 left in regulation.

The Tritons answered with four straight points to even the score up at 58-apiece with 4:47 left in the contest. Each team would score on its next two possessions to bring the game to 62-all with 3:27 remaining.

Following a Flyer turnover, Redel was fouled by Strus with 2:40 remaining, sending him to the line with two free throws. He would convert both of his charity shots to give the Tritons a 64-62 lead.

Strus responded on the next trip down the court, as he gathered in an offensive rebound and scored on a putback to knot the game up at 64, with 2:12 left in the contest.

UMSL was the beneficiary of an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession, as Watkins pulled in a carom off of a Strus block and was fouled. The junior guard knocked down both of his free throws, to give the Tritons the 66-64 advantage with 1:51 left in the game.

Both teams traded possessions before Thomas knocked down a short jumper with 51 ticks on the clock, to square the game up at 66.

Lewis forced an UMSL turnover with 28 seconds left, setting the stage for a Flyer game-winning shot.

Lewis junior forward Jeron Lee (Chicago, Ill./Marshall/Southeastern C.C.) launched a three-point attempt with six seconds remaining that went array. Williams hauled in the rebound, setting the stage for his game-winning heroics.

"This is a tough loss, but we need to play 40 minutes," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "If we don't learn to play 40 minutes, it's going to be a long year."

Lewis returns to action on Tuesday (Dec. 7), as the Flyers welcome IU-Northwest to Neil Carey Arena for a 7:30 p.m. (CST) tip-off.

Lewis University is a Catholic university offering distinctive undergraduate and graduate programs to approximately 6,000 traditional and adult students. Lewis offers multiple campus locations, online degree programs, and a variety of formats that provide accessibility and convenience to a growing student population. Sponsored by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, Lewis prepares ethically grounded, globally aware, and socially responsible graduates. The ninth largest not-for-profit university in Illinois, Lewis has been nationally recognized by The Princeton Review and U.S. News & World Report. Visit www.lewisu.edu for further information.

##LEWIS##