ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Lewis University's men's basketball team matched its season-high winning streak of three games with an 80-74 win over Lindenwood on Saturday afternoon at Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo. The Flyers improve to 6-2 overall and in the GLVC while the Lions drop to 5-4, 5-4 GLVC.

Lewis scored the first five points and 12 of the first 16 points to begin the contest and never trailed in the contest. It led by as many as 11 at 35-24 after a layup from Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) on the break with 3:09 remaining in the half.

Lindenwood cut the deficit to 35-30 less than two minutes later but Stapleton hit three of four free throws in the final minute of the frame to send the Flyers into the locker room with a 38-30 lead.

The two sides went back-and-forth over the first 10-plus minutes of the second half but Lewis continued to hold its eight-point lead. The Flyers extended their lead back to double digits on a three-pointer from Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) with 9:09 left in the contest and the lead would remain between the 7 to 11-point range for the next eight minutes.

The Lions got as close as six points in the final minute, but Lewis closed it out hitting all four of its free throws down the stretch and got a dunk from Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) to seal the victory with 0:08 left. Brandon Trimble hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds for the final margin.

The Flyers shot 45 percent (27-for-60) from the floor in the contest, were 4-of-17 from three and shot 79 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded Lindenwood 39-34 in the contest and turned 10 Lion turnovers into 11 points.

Stapleton was tied for the game-high in points with 20 to lead Lewis and also matched his career-high with 10 rebounds for the second double-double of his career. Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and Sahinkaya had 16 and 14 points respectively while Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) added 10 points off the bench.

Lindenwood finished the game with a field goal percentage of 47.0 percent (31-for-66), was 6-of-21 from beyond the arc and shot 60 percent at the charity stripe. Its bench outscored the Flyers bench by a 29-21 margin.

TJ Crockett matched Stapleton for game-high in points with 20 and was joined in double figures by Kevin Caldwell Jr. with 16 while Anthony Christian added 13 points and Trimble finished with 12 points.

Lewis concludes its four-game road trip to open the New Year next Tuesday (Jan. 12) as it heads down to Springfield, Ill., to take on Illinois Springfield at 7 p.m.