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Somers, Wis. - Despite trailing for the first 30 minutes of the contest, Lewis University sophomore guard
Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) would not let his team down, as he scored a career-high 32 points to lift the visiting Flyers to the 77-74 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over UW-Parkside at DeSimone Gymnasium on Monday (Jan. 21) night.
"I'm proud of our guys and that was a heck of an effort," Lewis head men's basketball coach
Scott Trost said. "This was a good win, particularly with the way we played in the second half. We hit shots, we took good shots and we took care of the ball."
Jackson was 10-for-13 from the floor, 10-for-10 from the free throw line, with two three-pointers, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. It is the most points scored by a Flyer player since
Brandon Dagans (Harvey, Ill./Thornton) had 34 against UW-Parkside on February 26, 2009.
"Ryan is very capable of putting up those numbers because he's hard to guard," Trost said. "When we went small, I thought it made it hard for (UW-Parkside) defensively.
"Ryan was unbelieveable tonight."
The Flyers also received solid performances from both guards
David Bryant (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) and
Gabe Williams (Chicago, Ill./Farragut) (Chicago, Ill./Farragut). Bryant was 6-for-10 from the field and drained 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to finish with 16 points, while Williams chipped in 10 points off of the bench.
With the win, Lewis improves to 10-5 on the campaign and 4-3 in GLVC action, while the host Rangers fall to 10-5 overall and 5-2 in conference play.
UW-Parkside senior forward Jeremy Saffold led the Rangers with 22 points, followed by 16 points from senior forward Conrad Krutwig and 10 points from junior guard Colt Grandstaff.
A big key to the Flyers' success was that they tied their season-low with seven turnovers against the Rangers. This is the fifth time this season that Lewis has had a game with 10 or fewer miscues. That feat has not been accomplished since the 2008-09 campaign.
The Flyers were also aided by the fact that UW-Parkside shot 66.7% (18-for-27) from the free throw line, including eight missed free throws in the second half.
Most of all, the Flyers reaped their biggest reward from a scorching 70.0% (14-for-20) shooting performance in the second half, including 60.0% (3-for-5) from three-point range.
UW-Parkside led for a majority of the contest, building a 10-point lead over the Flyers, less than five minutes into the game. Lewis fought an uphill battle, before taking their first lead at 58-56 following a pair of free throws by Jackson with 10:09 left.
Lewis would extend that lead to 66-60 following a jumper by junior guard
Nick Valla (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist) (Tinley Park, Ill./Marist/Missouri State) with 6:07 left. UW-Parkside responded with a 6-0 run with buckets from Saffold, Kevin Senechalle and a pair of free throws from Grandstaff to knot the game up at 66-apiece with 4:10 remaining.
The Flyers would go on a 5-1 run over the next 2:20 with buckets from both
Kyle Nelson (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North),
Julian Lewis (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) and a free throw from Williams to give Lewis the 71-67 lead that they would not relinquish.
Lewis returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 24), as the Flyers host No. 4 Kentucky Wesleyan. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM at Neil Carey Arena.