Feb. 13, 2010

Box Score

Men's Basketball: Saint Joseph's 71, Lewis 65 in PDF Format

Rensselaer, Ind. - The Saint Joseph's men's basketball team continued its dominance over Lewis University at Scharf Fieldhouse, as the Pumas claimed the 71-65 win over the visiting Flyers to claim sole possession of second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference North Division on Saturday (Feb. 13) afternoon.

Lewis' last win over the Pumas in Rensselaer was a 104-73 victory on December 1, 2003.

"This is a hard place to play," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "I thought we played well for the most part today, but we didn't make plays down the stretch and Saint Joseph's did.

"I thought we competed and hung in there, but now we have to go out and get the next two games."

Saint Joseph's guards Austin Peebles, Mark Lake and Phillip Collins each scored 11 points to lead the Pumas to victory.

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 15-9 on the season and 9-7 in conference play, while the Flyers drop to 15-10 overall and 7-9 in GLVC action.

Lewis sophomore center Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) topped four Flyer players in double-figures with a game-high 14 points. Sophomore forward Justin Jarosz (Homer Glen, Ill./Lockport) knocked down three trifectas to finish with 13 points. Lewis' starting backcourt of Dennis Thomas, Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) and Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) scored 12 and 10 points respectively.

Both teams battled to a 36-all tie following the first half, but the Pumas came out roaring in the second stanza and eventually built up a 61-53 lead with 8:29 left following a pair of Lake free throws.

The Flyers would fight back with a pair of three-pointers from McClellan and Jarosz to narrow the Pumas' advantage to 61-59 with 5:02 remaining in the contest.

The score would remain that way for the next three minutes, before the Pumas went on a 7-1 run over the next 1:26, led by three points apiece from Peebles and Marcus Jackson (9 points) to take a 67-60 lead, and Saint Joseph's would never look back.

Lewis returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 18) night, as the Flyers welcome Illinois-Springfield for a 7:45 PM tip-off at Neil Carey Arena. The game can also be seen on Lakeshore Public television which can be viewed over the air and on satellite through DirecTV and Dish Network on Channel 56, on cable channel 17 in most Northwest Indiana communities, and on 18 and 21 in Chicago and its suburbs.

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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