ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Cristen Wilson (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay) scored a career-high 38 points as the Lewis Flyers held off the William Jewell Cardinals to pick up a 94-92 victory at Neil Carey Arena on Saturday afternoon. Wilson scored 25 of his 38 points in the second half on 9-of-12 shooting and also had 15 rebounds. Delaney Blaylock (Wyoming, Mich./Godwin Heights) chipped in with 21 and Marco Pettinato (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) added 10 off the bench.

The Flyers (9-11, 4-6 GLVC) gave up the first points of the game but responded with a 15-5 run to take an eight point lead with 12:57 left in the opening half. Blaylock scored the eight of the first 15 points of the contest for Lewis.

The Cardinals (15-4, 5-4 GLVC) responded with a 10-1 run over the next three minutes to regain the lead on a three-pointer by Clark Minnifield. It would be short lived however as Pettinato responded with a three on the other end to give the Flyers the lead back. William Jewell cut the lead to 19-18 after Byron Harp hit 1-of-2 at the foul line with 8:36 remaining in the half.

Lewis extended its lead to 32-20 thanks to an 11-2 run over the next three minutes sparked by eight points from Wilson. The Cardinals refused to go away trimming the lead to 34-31 with 3:00 to go in the stanza on a three-pointer from Harp.

The Flyers stretched their lead to nine points with 0:23 to go in the half but Harp hit a three in the final seconds of the half sending the teams to the locker with Lewis ahead 46-40.

The Flyers shot 53 percent (17-for-32) from the floor in the first 20 minutes hit 8-of-13 attempts from beyond the arc. They outrebounded William Jewell 21-to-15 and had an 11-4 edge in second chance points. Wilson and Blaylock had 13 points each to lead Lewis.

The Cardinals shot 41 percent (13-for-32) and was 7-of-19 from downtown. Patrick Whelan led Jewell with 12 points while Harp added 11 off the bench.

The Flyers extended their halftime lead to 10 points less than four minutes into the second half but Jewell cut the margin to five after a three-point play from Whelan with 13 minutes remaining. Wilson responded scoring the next eight points for the Flyers to stretch the lead back to 11 but once again the Cardinals wouldn't go away cutting the lead to five thanks to four straight points from Harp.

Lewis again extended the lead to double digits but had a hard time putting the Cardinals away missing six free throws in the second half. The Flyers led 81-72 after a dunk from Wilson with 4:57 to play but William Jewell got hot from three hitting three 3-pointers in a row to make it 86-81 with 2:31 remaining.

Harp made it a one-possession game converting an old-fashioned three-point play with 2:21 to go but Wilson hit a jumper on the ensuing possession to extend the lead back to four. Pharroh Gordon then responded with a three to make it a one-point game with 1:42 left.

Lewis had a chance to extend the lead but missed a couple of shots around the basket. The Cardinals took advantage on the other end getting an offensive rebound and Whelan hit a three in front of Jewell's bench with 0:36 left.

After a Flyer timeout, Blaylock drove the lane and was fouled by Harp with 0:27 left. Blaylock made both free throws to put Lewis back in front 90-89. The Cardinals had a chance to hold for the final shot but Harp was called for a travel to give the ball back to the Flyers.

Forced to foul William Jewell sent Blaylock to the line where he hit 1-of-2 but Donovan Oliver (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) got the offensive rebound after the second rebound and was fouled. He nailed both free throws to make it 93-89 with 0:17 to play.

Harp raced to the other end and was fouled on the shot by Oliver and went to the line to complete the three-point play with 0:12 remaining. Lewis turned the ball over trying to get the ball inbounds and the Cardinals called timeout with 0:08 left. Keith Hayes had a chance at the win but his shot from 17 feet rimmed out and Wilson was fouled going for the loose ball with 0.9 seconds left.

He hit 1-of-2 to make it 94-92 and then Jackson Golightly's desperation three from 75 feet at the buzzer was off the mark.

Lewis finished the game shooting 52 percent (33-for-64) from the floor, was 12-of-22 from three and shot 64 percent at the foul line. It outrebounded William Jewell 38-to-34 and held a 21-13 advantage in second chance points.

Harp led four Cardinals in double figures with 25 points while Whelan added 21. Gordon dropped in 18 and Hayes finished with 17. William Jewell finished the contest shooting 45 percent (30-for-67) from the field, was 13-of-34 from three and shot 83 percent at the foul line.  

The Flyers are back in action next Saturday taking on Quincy at 3 p.m. at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill.