ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team used a 38-3 run spanning 14 minutes to overcome an early deficit on its way to a 76-51 win over William Jewell on Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers improve to 8-5, 3-2 GLVC while the Cardinals fall to 6-8, 1-4 GLVC.
William Jewell got off to a sizzling start hitting its first six shots including three three's to build a 17-9 advantage less than five minutes into the contest.
Lewis cut the lead to two on a layup by
Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) with 8:37 to go in the half but the Cardinals answered on the other end on a jumper in the paint by Nick Bradley.
After that bucket by Bradley, the Flyers went on a 23-3 run over the final eight minutes of the half. Stapleton and
Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) combined to score all 14 points in the first half of the run which gave Lewis a 31-21 lead with 5:02 to play in the half.
Bradley silenced the run momentarily with a three but Lewis closed the half strong scoring the last nine points to take a 40-24 lead into the locker room at the half.
The run extended into the second half as the Flyers scored the first 15 points of the stanza to build its largest lead of the game at 55-24 with 14:08 to play in the contest.
William Jewell made things interesting over the next 6:47 cutting Lewis' lead to 16 points with 7:10 remaining.
The Flyers wouldn't allow the Cardinals to get any closer scoring 10 of the final 11 points for the final margin.
Lewis shot over 43 percent from the field in the contest, was 6-of-18 from three and shot 60 percent at the charity stripe. They outrebounded William Jewell 41-38 and recorded 15 steals.
Stapleton finished with a game-high 17 points and was joined in double figures by Bell with 15 and
Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) added 13 points.
Anthony D'Avanzo (Harwood Heights, Ill./Notre Dame) had a game-high eight rebounds.
Bradley was the lone Cardinal to reach double figures in scoring finishing with 14 points.
The Flyers begin a three-game road swing next Thursday heading to Quincy to take on the Hawks at 7:30 p.m.
