ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team returns to the court with three games this week to close out its first semester schedule. The Flyers head to Indianapolis on Tuesday for a makeup contest against the Greyhounds at 6:30 p.m. (CST) and then return home Friday and Saturday to take on McKendree at 5:15 p.m. on Friday and 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Last Time Out - The Flyers picked up their first win of the season on November 29 defeating Quincy 77-70 at Neil Carey Arena.
Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led the Flyers with 14 points off the bench while
Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) and
Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) added 12 points apiece while
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.
New Faces – Lewis has nine new faces on their roster this year with five freshmen, two junior college transfers and two NCAA Division I transfers.
Balanced Scoring – The Flyers have five players averaging at least 8.0 points per game. Bell leads the way with 14.5 points per contest and has also grabbed 14 rebounds to go along with a pair of steals.
Beau Frericks (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) joins Bell with double digits in the scoring column at 12.5 points per outing. Sahinkaya leads on the boards with 8.5 rebounds per game.
About UIndy – The Greyhounds had its chance to tie or take the lead in the waning moments for the second straight game to open the season, but came up short against Truman, 66-64, as a layup at the buzzer rimmed out.
UIndy led for a majority of the contest, but a 9-2 Truman run down the stretch proved to be the difference.
Three Greyhounds are averaging double figures in in the early going, including Cory Miller Jr., Dee Montgomery and Kendrick Toucha. Nearly 54 percent of the trio's scoring have come inside the paint, with another 26 percent coming from the free throw line.
Flyers vs. Hounds – Lewis leads the all-time series with UIndy 47-36, with the teams splitting their last 16 contests dating back to the 2012-13 campaign. The Hounds claimed both victories last season.
About McKendree – The Bearcats suffered their first defeat of the season this past Saturday in an 81-70 loss at Southern Indiana. Bryson Bultman led McKendree with 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting in the contest while Jacob Donaldson added 13 points and Brendon Gooch finished with a double-double recording 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The Bearcats were held to 41.7 percent shooting in the contest but were only 10-of-34 (29.4 percent) from beyond the arc. They turned the ball over 14 times in the contest resulting in 18 points for the Screaming Eagles.
Flyers vs. Bearcats – Lewis leads the all-time series against McKendree 11-2. The Bearcats snapped the Flyers 11-game winning streak in the series with a 70-65 win at Neil Carey Arena last February.
Up Next – The Flyers open the second half of their schedule with a three-game road trip beginning on Sunday, January 3, at 3 p.m. at Rockhurst.
