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Romeoville, Ill. - In a blink of an eye, a two-point lead ballooned to a 21-point advantage, as the Lewis University men's basketball team used a 20-1 run early in the second half to earn the 78-57 regional victory over Wayne State at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday (Nov. 30) afternoon.
Lewis junior guard
Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) topped the Flyers with 16 points, four steals, four rebounds and three assists, followed by 13 points from sophomore center
Kyle Nelson (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North). Nelson was 6-for-8 from the floor and added a block.
Freshman guard
Capel Henshaw (Harrisburg, Ill./Harrisburg) came off the bench and scored all of his season-high 11 points in the second half, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long-range.
With the win, Lewis remains undefeated at 4-0, while the visiting Warriors drop to 1-1 on the campaign.
Wayne State sophomore guard Gavin Toma paced the Warriors with a game-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. The Warriors also received double-digit efforts from both senior guard Chene Phillips (11 points) and senior forward Bryan Coleman (10 points).
Lewis took a 36-31 lead into the intermission, and the Warriors cut the advantage to two, as Coleman drained a three at the 19:45 mark of the second half.
That's when the Flyers turned on the afterburners, as they went on a 20-1 run over the next 7:01 to put the game out of reach. Nelson led the charge for the Flyers during that run with six points, followed by five points apiece from both Jackson and junior forward
Julian Lewis (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor). Lewis finished with nine points on the afternoon.
Henshaw's 11 points helped Lewis' bench outscore Wayne State's reserves, 28-7. The Flyers also had a 34-22 advantage over the Warriors on the glass. It was the fewest rebounds allowed by an opponent, since Lewis held McKendree to 22 caroms on January 17, 2013.
Wayne State, who shot 61.9% (13-for-21) in the first half, was held to 34.5% (10-for-29) in the final 20 minutes of the contest.
"We did a good job on the defensive end (in the second half), first and foremost," Lewis head men's basketball coach
Scott Trost said. "We made it tough on them, but I thought we had a really good performance today.
"This was our best and most consistent effort of the year."
Lewis returns to action on Wednesday (Dec. 4), as they head to Joliet to take on local rival, St. Francis (Ill.) for a 7 PM tip-off.