ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team defeated Quincy 77-70 to pick up its first win of the 2020-21 season on Sunday (Nov. 29) afternoon at Neil Carey Arena.

Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led the Flyers (1-1, 1-1 GLVC) with 14 points off the bench while Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) and Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) added 12 points apiece and Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) finished with 10 points. Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) added a game-high 10 rebounds while Stapleton led the way with five assists.

Lewis led by as many as nine points at 24-15 with less than nine minutes to play in the opening half but Quincy (0-2, 0-2 GLVC) rallied to take a 33-32 lead on a three-pointer from Jack Youmans with 3:24 left in the stanza.

The Flyers got back-to-back baskets from McCombs and Stapleton to regain a 36-33 with 1:39 to go in the half. However, Silas Crisler responded on the other end with a three to even the score at the intermission.

The two sides went back-and-forth over the first 10 minutes of the second frame. The Hawks regained the lead on a three-pointer from Tanner Stuckman but Lewis countered with six straight points to regain the lead at 55-52. Austin Boucher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Fort Wayne North Side) hit a pull-up jumper in the lane and then Williams hit four straight at the foul line.

Quincy evened the score at 55 on a three-pointer from Charles Callier with 8:05 remaining. Williams gave the Flyers the lead for good with a pull up jump shot from just outside the lane on the ensuing possession. That basket sparked a 7-0 run allowing them pull ahead at 62-55.

The Hawks cut the margin to two points with 5:16 left on two free throws from Callier. Lewis clung to a two-point lead with less than 2:30 to play when Marco Pettinato (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) hit a three from the left wing in front of the Flyer bench to extend the lead.

Pettinato added two more free throws with 66 seconds remaining to push the margin back to seven.

Quincy got to within three in the final minute, but Lewis went 6-for-6 at the foul line in that span to seal the victory.

The Flyers shot 45.2 percent (28-for-62) from the floor, were 4-of-17 from three and shot 81 percent (17-for-21) at the foul line. They outrebounded the Hawks by a 38-30 and turned 18 Quincy turnovers into 19 points. Lewis dominated in the paint outscoring the Hawks 42-16.

The Flyers continue their conference-only schedule Thursday (Dec. 3) when it travels to face Indianapolis at 6:30 p.m. CT.