St. Francis (Ill.) Game Notes (PDF)

Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team wraps up the non-conference slate on Saturday (Dec. 20), as the Flyers (7-1) host local rival St. Francis (Ill.) (10-3) for a 3 PM tip-off at Neil Carey Arena.
   Live stats and video streaming of Saturday's contest can be found at www.LewisFlyers.com. The game can also be heard on www.LewisFlyers.com and WJOL (1340 AM) with Mark Vasko providing the play-by-play action for the Lewis Sports Network.

ALL-TIME SERIES - Lewis holds a 31-8 lead over the Fighting Saints in their all-time series.

LAST TIME WE MET - Lewis junior forward Julian Lewis (Flossmoor, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) posted a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds as the visiting Flyers claimed the 74-64 non-conference victory over St. Francis (Ill.) on Dec. 4, 2013.

LAST TIME OUT - Lewis senior guard Ryan Jackson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) collected a team-season high 25 points on 8-for-12 shooting as the host Flyers picked up the 86-79 regional win over Northwood at Neil Carey Arena on Wednesday (Dec. 17) night.

THE LAST TIME - Lewis freshman guard Max Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) posted 20 points and 10 rebounds in the 91-62 win over Malone (Nov. 15). He is the first Flyer freshman to score at least 20 points in a game since Jackson did it as a rookie in 2011-12 He is also the first rookie to notch a double-double since his brother Marty Strus (2008-12) accomplished that feat in 2008.

SMOKIN' HOT - Lewis has won 36 of its last 45 contests dating back to the 2012-13 campaign for a winning percentage of .800.

RANKED SCHMANKED - Lewis has defeated at least one nationally-ranked Division II team in each of the last four seasons. The Flyers have not met a ranked team thus far in 2014-15. 

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER - Lewis has won 14-straight games in the month of December dating back to the 2011-12 season.

TOP 10 - Jackson needs 10 points to crack the All-Time Top 10 in Lewis career scoring.

1,000/700 ON THE HORIZON - Lewis needs 134 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He needs 115 more rebounds to become just the fourth Flyer in school history to notch at least 1,000 points and 700 rebounds in the Division II era.

WINNING WITH CLASS - Lewis' current senior class (2011) needs 13 wins to reach the most victories (75) by a Trost recruiting class, set by last year's seniors.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN - Lewis has hit at least 10 three-pointers in three games this season. The Flyers needed the entire 2013-14 campaign to achieve that same feat.

FROM WAY DOWNTOWN (PART DEUX) - Lewis is shooting better from three-point range (43.0%) than their opponents are shooting overall (41.6%).

BENCH MOB - Lewis' bench is averaging 26.9 points and shooting 51.6% (80-for-155) from the field and 45.6% (31-for-68) from three-point range.

LESS IS MORE - The Flyers needed just 47 total field goal attempts to defeat Saginaw Valley State on November 20th. Lewis is 10-3 (.769) since 2012 when taking less than 50 shots in a contest.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS - Lewis is 31-7 (.816) in non-conference games dating back to the 2011-12 campaign.

HE'S ON FIRE - Senior forward David Niggins (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) is shooting 47.5% (28-for-59) from three-point range in his last 15 contests.

HOME SWEET HOME - Lewis has won 29 of their last 33 games at Neil Carey Arena for an .879 winning percentage.

TAKING THE LEAD - In Lewis' seven wins this season, they have trailed just 6:23 out of a possible 280 minutes played.

POURING IN POINTS - Lewis has scored 90+ points twice this season in eight contests. That's the most times the Flyers have reached the 90-point plateau since they did it three times during the 2011-12 campaign.

SIZEABLE VICTORIES - Lewis has had five victories of 20+ points or more this season. The Flyers had two 20+ point wins for the entire 2013-14 campaign.

SIXTH (AND SEVENTH) MEN - Niggins (9.8 ppg.) and Gabe Williams (Chicago, Ill./Farragut) (9.4 ppg.) are averaging a combined 19.2 points-per-game off the bench.

TOTALLY TO THE MAX - Strus is the leading freshman scorer in the GLVC, averaging 13.1 points-per-game (as of Dec. 17th). That average is good for 28th in the conference.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN - Lewis is receiving votes (21) in the latest NABC Division II Men's Basketball Coaches Poll, good for 27th in the country

POUNDING THE GLASS - Lewis currently holds a +6.9 rebounding margin over their opponents through eight games this season. That would be the highest rebounding margin of any Flyer team under Trost's tenure. The previous high under Trost was +4.2 in 2007-08.

DOUBLE DIPPING - Lewis has had at least four players score in double-figures in each of their last four contests.

GETTING TO THE LINE - Lewis has gone to the free throw line 59 times over the last two games for an average of 29.5 charity tosses. In the prior six contests, Lewis averaged 19.5 free throw attempts.

GETTING TO THE LINE (PART DEUX) - Lewis is 10-0 over the past three seasons when Jackson gets to the free throw line at least 10 times.