SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Lewis' men's basketball team held off a second rally to defeat Illinois Springfield 71-62 on Monday evening at The Recreation and Athletic Center in Springfield, Ill. The Flyers improve to 9-7, 4-4 GLVC and snapped a four-game road losing streak while the Prairie Stars fall to 9-7, 2-6 GLVC.

Lewis got off to a slow start trailing by six two minutes into the contest. The Flyers got going coming back to the game at 15 on a dunk by Anthony D'Avanzo (Harwood Heights, Ill./Notre Dame). UIS regained the lead on the next possession on a jumper from Daniel Soetan but that would be its final lead of the half as Lewis would outscore them 27-8 the remainder of the stanza.

Adam Pischke (Cary, Ill./Marian Central Catholic) gave the Flyers the lead converting an old-fashioned three-point play with 12:28 left in the half. That sparked a 17-1 run for Lewis over the next five-plus minutes as they built a 14-point lead.

The lead eventually grew to 18 on a jumper from Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) with 1:40 to play in the stanza.

The Flyer defense locked down holding the Prairie Stars without a field goal for over a seven-minute stretch. Keymonta Johnson broke the spell hitting a jumper in the paint on the break with 3:30 left in the half.

Lewis finished the half strong to head into the locker room with a 42-25 advantage.

The Flyers shot over 47 percent from the field in the opening half, was 3-of-8 from three and shot 78 percent at the foul line. Stapleton led Lewis with 12 points in the half while D'Avanzo added 10 more.

Illinois Springfield dominated the first half of the final 20 minutes as they outscored the Flyers 26-8 in that stretch to take their first lead of the game since 12:50 mark of the opening half on a three-pointer from Matt Wendling.

Lewis quickly regained the lead scoring five points in the next 1:23 and wouldn't relinquish it. The Prairie Stars wouldn't get closer than one as the Flyers pulled away over the final seven minutes outscoring UIS 13-6 the rest of the way.

Lewis finished the game shooting 44.1 percent from the field, was 5-of-17 from three, shot 64 percent at the foul line and outrebounded UIS 35-33. D'Avanzo led all scorers with 19 points and was joined in double figures by Stapleton with 15 and Pischke added 14.

Johnson led the Prairie Stars in scoring with 18 points and was joined in double figures by Soetan with 16 points while Wendling finished with 13 points.

The Flyers begin a four-game homestand on Thursday hosting Lindenwood at 7:30 p.m. The Lions lost to No. 18 Missouri-St. Louis 103-80 on Monday evening.