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Romeoville, Ill. - After trailing No. 9 Kentucky Wesleyan by as many as 20 points in the first half, the Lewis University men's basketball team staged a furious rally and even took a 71-66 lead with 1:05 remaining in the contest.

Panthers' guard Cardell McFarland (11-for-18 FG, 4-for-7 3PT FG ) put an abrupt halt to the Flyers' momentum, as he scored six of his game-high 28 points in the final minute, including the game-winning trey with one second left to help Kentucky Wesleyan to the 74-71 Great Lakes Valley Conference win over Lewis at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday (Dec. 3) afternoon.

"(Kentucky Wesleyan) has Cardell McFarland, they're setting ball screens for him and he's making a play," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "He made some plays, give him credit and we found a way to not make a play."

KWC senior forward Anthony Young posted 18 points and a game-high eight rebounds, while senior guard Brandon Johnson had eight points, six rebounds and six assists in the victory.

With the victory, Kentucky Wesleyan improves to 6-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play, while the Flyers fall to 4-2 on the campaign and 0-2 in GLVC action.

Lewis' starting backcourt of senior Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) and Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) each scored 19 points to lead the Flyers. Junior guard David Bryant (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) came off the bench to score a season-high 11 points, including three trifectas, all in the second-half. McClellan's 19 points gives him 1,002 for his career.

Kentucky Wesleyan looked to be in control of the game in the opening half, as they used a 23-4 run that lasted over eight minutes to build a 36-16 lead and eventually took a 39-23 lead into the intermission.

Trost then mixed things up in the second half, starting Bryant, sophomore forward Mantas Dubauskas (Naperville, Ill./St. Joseph) (Naperville, Ill./St. Joseph) and senior forward Lonnie Lawrence (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington) (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington). That trio, along with Jackson and McClellan, opened the second half with a 29-12 run over the first nine minutes to narrow KWC's lead to 52-46 with 11:45 left in the game.

"(That group) played with great effort and with great energy," Trost said. "We found some things out about our team. They brought some toughness and they're going to play more."

The hot shooting for the Flyers continued, as they went on a 12-5 run, led by five points from Jackson and four points from McClellan, to give Lewis the 59-57 lead with 5:42 left in the game. The lead would change five times over the next five possessions, before McClellan converted a three-point play with 2:55 left in the contest to give Lewis the 66-64 advantage.

McFarland answered on the next possession with a jumper at the 2:29 mark to even the score up at 66-apiece.

Jackson (3 points) and McClellan (2 points) then keyed another Flyer 5-0 run to push Lewis to a 71-66 lead over the Panthers with 1:05 left.

McFarland knocked down a trey on the ensuing possession to narrow Lewis' advantage to 71-69. On the inbounds pass, the Panthers were able to draw an offensive foul off of McClellan to get the ball back with 55 seconds left.

Johnson scored on a lay-up with 43 ticks left to tie the game up at 71-apiece.

On the Flyers' next possession, Bryant attempted a three-pointer with 15 seconds left in regulation, but was unable to convert. Panthers' junior guard Kreig Oxley grabbed the board, setting the stage for McFarland's heroics.

"I'm proud of our effort and the way we competed," Trost said.

Lewis returns to action on Wednesday (Dec. 7), as the Flyers battle local rival St. Francis (Ill.) for a 7 p.m. tip-off in Joliet.