Feb. 20, 2010

Box Score

Men's Basketball: Lewis 69, Quincy 62 in PDF Format

Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team ended the 2009-10 regular season on a high note, as the Flyers upended Quincy 69-62, behind a game-high 22 points from sophomore guard Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling), on Saturday (Feb. 20) afternoon in a Great Lakes Valley Conference match-up at Neil Carey Arena.

Sophomore forward Matt Toth (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) added 15 points off the bench, while junior guard Dennis Thomas, Jr. (Milwaukee, Wisc./Bradley Tech) had 11 points and tied a team-season high with seven assists on the afternoon. Sophomore center Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) scored seven points, grabbed 11 boards and had three blocked shots.

"It gives us a little momentum and some confidence heading into the GLVC Tournament," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "They're feeling good about themselves, and this is a good positive thing to build on."

With the win, the Flyers improve to 16-11 and 8-10 in GLVC play while Quincy drops to 20-6 overall and 11-6 in conference action.

Quincy guard Josh Edmonds topped four Hawks in double-figures with 14 points, including three trifectas. Senior forward Billy Baptist posted 12 points, while teammates Courtney Belger and Andrew Kueker each chipped in 10 points apiece.

Lewis' defensive effort proved to be the difference in the game, as the Hawks entered the contest shooting a NCAA Division II-best 51.7% from the field, and 80.7 points-per-game. On Saturday afternoon, Quincy was held to a 41.7% (25-for-60) outing from the floor and they were also done in by a poor outing from the free throw line, converting only 28.6% (4-for-14) of their attempts.

"We needed to play (defensively) for our teammates and the guy next to you," Trost said of his team's defensive effort. "We have to trust our teammates. Defensively we helped each other and I thought we plugged the gaps and defended the dribble-drive. Defensively, I thought this was as good an effort that we've had all season."

It was a back and forth affair for the first 26 minutes of the contest, as the Flyers held a 37-35 advantage with 13:53 remaining in the second half.

Lewis broke the game wide open with a 19-8 run over the next 10 minutes, led by a combined 15 points from McClellan (8 points) and Toth (7 points) to give the Flyers a 60-47 lead with 3:49 left in the contest and they would never look back.

The Flyers will now head to Drury next Saturday (Feb. 27) to take on Northern Kentucky or Indianapolis in the first round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

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##