ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Lewis University's men's basketball team picked up its second straight victory defeating Maryville 67-61 on Thursday evening at Moloney Arena in St. Louis, Mo. The Flyers move to 5-2 overall and in the GLVC while the Saints fall to 3-4 overall and in league play.

Lewis got off to a slow start missing eight of its first nine shots from the field and trailed by five 5:30 minutes into the contest. The Flyers came back to even the score at 11 on a dunk from Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) but back-to-back three's from Owen Long and Daniel Farris gave Maryville its largest lead of the game at 17-11 with 8:11 remaining in the half.

Lewis countered with a 9-2 run of its own to take its first lead of the game on a three from Austin Boucher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Fort Wayne North Side) with 6:05 left in the stanza. The lead was short lived as the Saints scored five of the next seven points to regain the lead at 24-22 on a layup from Farris.

Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) tied the game with a jumper and Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) gave the Flyers the lead back with a three-pointer with 1:28 left in the frame but Maryville scored the final four points of the half to take a 28-27 lead into the locker room at the intermission.

The Saints extended its lead to four points early in the second half before Lewis seized control thanks to an 11-2 run. Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) gave the Flyers the lead for good with two free throws during that run.

Maryville countered with an 8-2 run of its own to get within 44-43 on a three from Ari Jackson but that would be the closest it got as Lewis pulled away with a 13-3 run over a span of four minutes to take its largest lead of the night at 57-46 after a jumper from T. Bell who had seven points in that run while Williams added four.

The Saints were unable to get closer than six points the rest of the contest as the Flyers iced the game at the foul line making five of six shots in the final minute.

Lewis finished the game shooting 43 percent (23-for-54) from the field, was 8-of-23 from three and shot 81 percent (13-for-16) at the foul line. It outrebounded Maryville 33-31 and turned 18 Saint turnovers into 20 points.

T. Bell led the Flyers in scoring with 14 points, nine coming in the second half, and was joined in double figures by Williams with 13 points and Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) with 12 points. Niego also led the team with eight rebounds.

Long and Farris combined for 43 of Maryville's 61 points as Long finished with a game-high 28 points. Kamto Eze had a game-high nine rebounds. The Saints shot 44 percent (22-of-50) from the floor but was held to just 6-for-20 shooting from beyond the arc and 69 percent (11-of-16) at the foul line.

Lewis continues its four-game road trip on Saturday as it heads to St. Charles, Mo., to take on Lindenwood at 1 p.m. The start time was moved up two hours due to the women's game between the Flyers and Lions postponed due to COVID restrictions in the Lindenwood women's program.