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Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team kicked off the 2014-15 campaign with a 78-57 regional victory over Northern Michigan in the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge at Neil Carey Arena on Friday (Nov. 14) night.

Lewis junior forward Kyle Nelson (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles North) and freshman guard Max Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) topped the Flyers with 13 points apiece, while senior guard Jeff Jarosz (Lyons, Ill./Morton) pitched in 12 points and a pair of three-pointers for the Flyers. Lewis senior guard Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) had nine points, including a career-high, six assists and zero turnovers on the evening.  11 different Flyers scored on Friday night.

"First and foremost, I thought we competed tonight," Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost said. "We had some first game jitters, but as the game went on, I thought we got into a rhythm."

With the victory, Lewis improves to 1-0 on the season, while the visiting Wildcats fall to 0-1 overall.

For the game, Lewis shot 56.9% (29-for-51) from the floor, which is their best showing since the Flyers knocked down 62.7% (37-for-59) of their attempts in a 94-73 win over William Jewell on Feburary 8, 2014. The Flyers outscored the Wildcats, 42-14, in the paint and scored 22 points off of 17 NMU turnovers.

Northern Michigan guard Marcus Hall posted a game-high 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting, including three trifectas.

Lewis returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 15), as they take on Malone for a 3 PM tip-off at Neil Carey Arena.