Box Score  / Box Score (PDF)

Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team was held without a basket over the final nine minutes of the first half, as local rival St. Francis (Ill.) took a 34-33 lead over the Flyers heading into the intermission.

The Flyers, however, came out blazing in the final stanza, as they converted 81.8% (18-for-22) of their field goal attempts, led by 16 points from sophomore guard Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) on their way to the 83-71 non-conference victory over the Fighting Saints at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday (Dec. 8) night.

Jackson finished with a career-high 27 points, including a career-best 13-for-17 outing from the free throw line, and a season-high seven rebounds. His previous high of 26 was set in a 82-74 win over Kentucky Wesleyan (2/9/12).

Flyer freshman forward Kyle Nelson (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) finished with 16 points on 6-for-6 shooting, while sophomore guard Jeff Jarosz (Lyons, Ill./Morton) (Lyons, Ill./Morton) was also 6-for-6 from the field and finished with 15 points.

"I thought in the second half we settled down with the ball and made some better decisions," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We played unselfish basketball and that was the end result."

With the victory, Lewis improves to 4-2 on the campaign, while the visiting Fighting Saints are now 6-5.

St. Francis' Tautvydas Kairys and Chris Miller each led the Fighting Saints with 13 points. Junior forward Mark Peters added 11 points, while guard Billy Hubly had 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds.

Lewis jumped out to an early 22-10 lead in the first half, following a three-pointer by junior guard Nick Valla (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist/Missouri State) with 12:40 remaining. From that point on, St. Francis went on a 24-11 run for the rest of the half to take a 34-33 lead at halftime. Lewis was held to just one field goal over the final 8:59 of the first half.

That cold streak came to a screeching halt to start the second half, as the Flyers made nine of their first 11 shots to take a 55-44 lead with 12:28 remaining in the contest. Jarosz proved to be the focal point of the Flyer attack, as he scored 10 of his 15 points during that stretch to put St. Francis away for good.

"I have to give St. Francis credit," Trost said. "I thought they played hard and they took us out of what we wanted to do at times."

Lewis has a 10-day break before they return to the court to meet Judson on December 19th at Neil Carey Arena. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.