ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University men's basketball team bounced back from a tough loss on Thursday with a 91-77 win over McKendree on Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers (11-12, 6-7 GLVC) had all five starters reach double figures in the contest led by Delaney Blaylock (Wyoming, Mich./Godwin Heights) with 24 points.

The Bearcats (11-11, 2-10 GLVC) scored the first points of the contest on a basket from Malcolm Mabry but Lewis responded with a 13-2 run to take a nine-point lead less than four minutes into the contest. The Flyers hit four of their first five shots in the contest including a pair of three's.

McKendree hung around and eventually tied the game on layup by Nate Bethel with 3:08 left in the opening half. Once again, Lewis had an answer closing the half on a 9-4 run to head into the locker room with a 42-37 advantage.

The Flyers shot 50 percent (15-for-30) from the floor and from the three-point line in the first 20 minutes. They outscored the Bearcats 7-2 in points off turnovers and 7-4 in bench points. Blaylock and Marco Pettinato (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) led Lewis with 11 points each in the half.

McKendree opened the second half scoring five of the first seven points to cut the Flyer lead to 44-42 on a three-pointer from Justin Blanks less than a minute in. Lewis extended its lead back to 10 with six straight points but the Bearcats wouldn't go away cutting the deficit to four after a layup by Nolan Gerling with 12:22 left in the game.

Lewis answered the run stretching the lead back to 10 on a layup by Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) near the midway point of the half and then began to pull away over the last 10 minutes building its largest lead of the game at 14 points.

McKendree tried to muster a late comeback but the Flyers wouldn't let them get closer than nine points the rest of the game.

Lewis finished the game shooting 53 percent (32-for-61) from the field, was 8-for-20 from three and shot 70 percent (19-for-27) at the foul line. The Flyers outrebounded the Bearcats 36-to-30 and turned 11 turnovers into 13 points. Blaylock led all scorers in the contest and was joined in double figures by Pettinato and Cristen Wilson (Cleveland, Ohio/John Hay) with 17 points each while Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) and McCombs added 11 and 10 respectively. McCombs also had eight rebounds to lead Lewis.

McKendree shot 49 percent (29-for-59) from the floor, was 6-of-25 from beyond the arc and shot 81 percent (13-for-16) at the foul line. The Bearcats outscored the Flyers 42-to-38 in points in the paint. Gerling led four players in double figures with 23 while Blanks added 17, Nate Michael added 13 and Mabry finished with 11. Mabry also finished with 11 rebounds to record a double-double.

Lewis travels to St. Louis on Thursday to take on the Saints of Maryville University at 7:30 p.m. Maryville suffered a 77-76 loss at Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon.