EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – Lewis' men's basketball team extended its winning streak to 12 straight with a 72-55 win over Truman State in the quarterfinal round of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. The Flyers improve to 24-4 on the season while the Bulldogs finish their season with a record of 14-15.

Truman scored the first points of the contest on a three-pointer by Nathan Messer but Lewis responded hitting their first five shots of the game to grab an 11-6 lead four minutes into the contest. The Bulldogs cut the lead to five but the Flyers countered with nine straight to extend their lead to double digits on a jumper from Anthony D'Avanzo (Harwood Heights, Ill./Notre Dame) with 11:47 left in the half.

Truman trimmed the deficit to 10 but Lewis answered right back with a 14-4 run to grab its largest lead of the half at 38-18 on a jumper by Donovan Oliver (Kewanee, Ill./Kewanee) with less than four minutes to play in the half. The Bulldogs got hot from three hitting three straight in the span of about 90 seconds to cut the Flyer lead to 38-27 with 1:28 to play in the half.

Oliver snapped the run converting an old fashioned three-point play with 1:05 left in the half to extend the lead to 14 points.

Lewis' defense was the catalyst in the first 20 minutes forcing 14 turnovers which it turned into 10 points.

Both teams started the second half cold as neither team scored for the first three-plus minutes of the half. The Flyers got going scoring six straight points to extend their halftime lead to 20 on a jumper by Frank Vukaj (Davison, Mich./Davison).

Hunter Strait brought Truman back to within 17 with a three-pointer but that would be the closest it got the rest of the contest. The two sides then went back-and-forth over the next four minutes as the score remained between 17-19 points.

Lewis grabbed its largest lead of the contest at 62-39 on a layup by Kendale McCullum (Elgin, Ill./Elgin Larkin) with 8:29 to play.

The 55 points allowed by the Flyers were the second fewest they've allowed in a game this season and it was the second fewest scored by Truman in a contest this season.

The Flyers finished the game shooting 48.5 percent (32-for-66) from the floor, were 6-of-16 from three and shot 50 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded the Bulldogs 38-to-33 and forced 20 turnovers in the contest.

Delaney Blaylock (Wyoming, Mich./Godwin Heights) led all scorers with 17 points while McCullum added 16, Oliver finished with 15 and D'Avanzo chipped in with 12. Oliver grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and McCullum finished with a game-high six assists and five steals.

Truman shot 38.5 percent (20-for-52) from the floor, was 10-of-26 from three and shot 45.5 percent at the foul line. Messer led three Bulldogs in double figures with 12 points while Brodric Thomas had 11 and Strait chipped in with 10.

Lewis advances to the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament on Saturday where it'll take on Drury at 12 p.m. at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Ill. The Panthers, seeded fifth, defeated Indianapolis, seeded fourth, 71-65 in the opening game of the tournament on Thursday.