ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball looks to make a postseason run when it takes on Truman State in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament at 12 p.m. on Friday at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. The Flyers, (15-13, 10-8 GLVC) seeded seventh, have won four straight and five of their last six while the Bulldogs, (18-9, 13-5 GLVC) seeded second, have won two straight and six of their last seven.
Lewis is making its 12
th straight appearance and 35
th overall in the conference tournament which is tied for third with Bellarmine. Southern Indiana has the most with 38 and Indianapolis is second with 36. The Flyers have won six GLVC Tournament championships which is third behind Kentucky Wesleyan (15) and Southern Indiana (12). Lewis has reached the championship game of the conference tournament each of the last two seasons. The Flyers won the title in 2016 and finished as runner-ups last year.
Thursday's contest will be the second meeting of the season between the two schools with Truman winning 92-80 back on Jan. 6. The Bulldogs shot 63 percent from the field for the game and shot 15-of-25 from the three-point line. Jake Velky led four Truman players in double figures with 23 points while
Delaney Blaylock (Wyoming, Mich./Godwin Heights) had 23 to lead Lewis.
The Flyers have been locking down defensively in their last four games. They're holding opponents just 51.5 points per game and 36 percent shooting from the field. Lewis has done a good job of defending the three-point line as well holding the opposition to 24 percent (21-for-88) from beyond the arc.
In his last four games,
Cristen Wilson (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay) is averaging 15.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game.
Donovan Oliver (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) is adding 11 points per contest while
Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) is averaging 10.5 points and nearly four assists per contest.
ABOUT TRUMAN STATE: The Bulldogs finished in a tie with Drury for the GLVC West Division Title but earned the second seed because of Drury's loss at William Jewell on Saturday. It's the second time that Truman has finished the conference season with 13 since beginning play in the league back in 2013-14.
The Bulldogs had three players selected to the All-GLVC First Team. Zach Fischer, Brodric Thomas and Jake Velky all garnered nods on the 10-member first team. Fischer is averaging a double-double on the season with 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He's recorded 16 double-doubles this season and 17 for his career. Thomas and Velky are averaging 16.5 and 16.4 points per game respectively. Nathan Messer is adding 10.2 points per contest. Thomas leads the team in assists (97), steals (38) and blocked shots (27).
