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Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team had a pair of opportunities in the final seconds to hand No. 5 Southern Indiana their first loss of the season, but the Screaming Eagles were able to hold on for the 61-59 victory over the Flyers in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener at Neil Carey Arena on Thursday (Dec. 1) night.
Southern Indiana took a 61-59 lead with 34 seconds left following a dunk by sophomore forward Taylor Wischmeier (10 points), as he answered the game-tying three-point shot by
Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) on the Flyers' previous possession.
On the ensuing play, the Flyers went for the win as senior forward
Matt Toth (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) (Orland Park, Ill./Sandburg) attempted a three-pointer with 4.3 seconds left, but traveled in the process, turning the ball over to the Screaming Eagles.
The Flyers were able to force a turnover on the USI inbounds play, setting themselves up for one more chance at the win. A game-winning three-point attempt by freshman guard
Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield), however, was blocked by USI guard Kenyon Smith at the buzzer to secure the win for the Screaming Eagles.
Toth led the Flyers with 16 points, followed by 14 points from Jackson, 12 points from McClellan and 10 points and seven rebounds by freshman forward
Julian Lewis (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor).
With the victory, Southern Indiana improves to 5-0 on the season and 1-0 in conference play, while the Flyers are now 4-1 overall and 0-1 in GLVC action.
Southern Indiana's backcourt tandem of Brandon Hogg (20 points) and Lawrence Thomas (18 points) proved to be difficult for the Flyers to contain, as the duo combined for 38 of the Screaming Eagles' 61 points.
Entering Thursday's game, both Lewis and Southern Indiana were the two best defensive teams in the GLVC, both allowing close to 50 points-per-game. USI did not disappoint, as they held Lewis to a season-low 39.6% (19-for-48) field-goal percentage.
"We never felt out of it, but we were never really comfortable in the offensive end," Lewis head men's basketball coach
Scott Trost said. "They took us out of our rhythm and we didn't execute tonight."
The Flyers, however, answered their 29.6% (8-for-27) shooting performance in the first half with a 52.4% (11-for-21) outing from the field in the final stanza, including a robust 53.8% (7-for-13) from long range. Jackson (12 points) and McClellan (9 points) combined for 21 of the Flyers 34 second-half points.
"We never quit," Trost said. "There were a number of times where we were down eight or nine points and we battled back with chances to take the lead.
"We took the fifth-ranked team to a two-point game, but it's disappointing that we didn't finish," Trost continued. " There's no moral victories and we have to find a way to win close games."
Lewis returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 3), as the Flyers battle No. 9 Kentucky Wesleyan for a 3 p.m. (CST) tip-off.
