Box Score  / Southern Indiana Box Score (PDF)
Romeoville, Ill. - Each possession is valuable, and the No. 19 Lewis University men's basketball team proved that against No. 9 Southern Indiana on Thursday (Jan. 23).
Lewis committed a season-low two turnovers and shot 53.3% (16-for-30) in the second half on their way to the 73-63 Great Lakes Valley Conference upset victory over the visiting Screaming Eagles at Neil Carey Arena.
That was the fewest miscues by a Flyer team since they had two turnovers against Bellarmine nearly 10 years ago on January 22, 2004. Lewis is one of six teams in the country that have recorded two or fewer turnovers in a game.
"I thought we did a really good job of executing our offense in the second half," Lewis head men's basketball coach
Scott Trost said. "We had good shots, made good decisions and maybe put (Southern Indiana) in positions where they weren't as good defensively.
"I'm proud of our guys," Trost continued. "It was a heck of an effort against a really, really good team."
Junior guard
Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) had a game-high 20 points, followed by 15 points, four rebounds and three assists by junior guard
Jeff Jarosz (Lyons, Ill./Morton). Junior forward
Julian Lewis (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) had 12 points, three steals and a game-high eight rebounds, while sophomore center
Kyle Nelson (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) finished with 12 points on 6-for-8 shooting with six rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
With the win, Lewis improves to 14-2 overall and 6-2 in conference play, while the visiting Screaming Eagles fall to 14-2 on the campaign and 6-2 in GLVC action. The victory is Lewis' first over Southern Indiana at Neil Carey Arena in 10 years and it extends the Flyers' streak of defeating a nationally-ranked team in each of the last four years.
USI senior forward Aaron Nelson topped the Screaming Eagles with 14 points, six rebounds and four blocks. He entered Thursday's contest averaging 20.3 points and 14.2 rebounds-per-game. Senior guard Lawrence Thomas knocked down three treys and finshed with 13 points, while junior guard Gavin Schumann added 11 points and six rebounds in the loss.
While the Flyers took care of the ball on Thursday, the Screaming Eagles did not. USI committed 14 turnovers, which led to 16 points for Lewis. The Flyers also pounded the glass, picking up 11 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second chance points.
Lewis returns to action on Saturday (Jan. 25), as they host No. 7 Bellarmine at 3 PM at Neil Carey Arena. At halftime, the Lewis Athletics Department will honor the All-Decades (1950s-60s) Team at halftime.