JOLIET, Ill. – The Lewis men's basketball team overcame a nine-point second half deficit to defeat Findlay 76-73 on Wednesday evening at the Pat Sullivan Center in Joliet, Ill. Kendale McCullum (Elgin, Ill./Elgin Larkin) finished with a season-high 25 points to lead four Flyers (7-1) in double figures in scoring.

Lewis, ranked 12th in the latest D2SIDA Media Poll, trailed the Oilers (9-2), ranked 14th in the latest NABC Coaches Poll, by as many as seven points in the first 20 minutes. The Flyers got as close as 30-29 after a jumper from McCullum with 1:43 left in the opening half but Findlay countered by scoring six of the final eight points of the frame to take a 36-31 lead into the locker room.

Lewis struggled shooting the ball in the first half connecting on 34 percent (11-of-32) from the field, 1-for-9 from the three-point line but did shoot 89 percent at the free throw line. McCullum led all scorers with 13 points in the frame while Delaney Blaylock (Wyoming, Mich./Godwin Heights) finished with seven.

The Oilers shot 43 percent (13-of-30) from the field and was 7-for-17 (41 percent) from three and shot 60 percent at the foul line. Alex White had nine points to lead Findlay.

The Oilers stretched their lead to nine points less than four minutes into the second stanza on a layup from White. The Flyers cut the lead to 47-44 on back-to-back three's from Blaylock and Jake Reinhart (Bloomington, Ill./Central Catholic) but Findlay pushed its lead back to seven with back-to-back buckets from Chazz George and Alex White.

Lewis took its first lead of the contest at 54-53 on a three-pointer in transition from Reinhart near the midway point of the half. That three capped a 10-4 run from the Flyers with Reinhart dropping in six and Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) adding four more.

The two sides exchanged leads over the next four minutes until Blaylock gave Lewis the lead for good with a three. The Oilers cut the lead to 65-64 after a jumper from White but the Flyers responded with a 9-2 run over the next 3:28 to build its largest lead of the game at 74-66 on a free throw from Reinhart.

Findlay made one final push rattling off seven straight to cut the lead to 74-73 after a three from Trey Smith with 0:17 left in the contest. The Oilers were aided by Lewis' struggles at the foul line as it missed the front end of two straight one-and-one's.

McCullum gave the Flyers some breathing room hitting two free throws with 0:08 left and then Smith had a chance to the game at the buzzer but his shot was off the mark and Blaylock came away with the rebound to preserve the win.

Lewis shot 52 percent (15-for-29) from the floor in the second half to finish the game shooting 43 percent overall. It was 8-of-21 (39 percent) from three and shot 76 percent at the foul line. Joining McCullum in double figures was Blaylock with 18 points while Reinhart and Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) chipped in with 10 points each.

Findlay ended the game shooting 43 percent (28-for-65) from the field, was 10-of-30 from three and shot 78 percent at the charity stripe. White finished with 24 points to lead the Oilers while Aaron Overhiser added 10.

The Flyers return to action on Sunday (Dec. 30) when they take on Northwood at 3 p.m.