ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team tips-off its 2021-22 season this Friday and Saturday hosting the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers will take on Northern Michigan on Friday at 8 p.m. and Michigan Tech on Saturday at 3 p.m. The other game on Friday will be between McKendree and Michigan Tech at 6 p.m. and Saturday's first contest will be between McKendree and Northern Michigan at 1 p.m.

Fans will be permitted to attend the games this weekend and tickets are being sold online by clicking here. Ticket prices are $7 for adults and $5 for children and students up to 12th grade. Lewis students and faculty and staff get in free with a valid Lewis ID but are encouraged to go online and signup for a season pass.

Fans are required to wear masks and practice social distancing as much as possible while in the building.

2020-21 In Review - The Flyers went 14-10 in the pandemic shortened season of 2020-21 and played a GLVC schedule only. They went 11-9 in league play and secured the fifth seed in the GLVC Tournament. Lewis knocked off fourth seeded, McKendree in the opening round of the conference tournament, then defeated No. 8 seeded Indianapolis in the semifinals and sixth seeded Drury to win its third GLVC Tournament title and seventh overall.

The Flyers received the GLVC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and were seeded sixth in the Midwest Regional and fell to third seeded Southern Indiana 62-60 in the opening round contest.

Lewis returns nine players off of last year's squad including four of its top six scorers in Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) (10.8 ppg), Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) at 8.2 points per contest, Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) with 7.7 points per outing and Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) at 6.1 points per game. Niego led the team in rebounding with 7.1 per outing while Sahinkaya added 4.9 rebounds per game. Marquise Jackson (Macon, Ga./Windsor Academy), a GLVC All-Defensive Team selection, led the team with 29 steals.

The Flyers were picked to finish in a tie for second in the GLVC East Division in the GLVC Preseason Coaches poll along with Illinois Springfield. Southern Indiana is the favorite to win the East Division.

About Northern Michigan – The Wildcats went 8-8 in the GLIAC only schedule in 2020-21 and ended the season on a two-game winning streak but did not qualify for the postseason.

NMU was slotted to finish fifth in the GLIAC's North Division receiving 25 points. Max Bjorklund led the team in scoring a season ago with 14.8 points per game on 46.6 percent shooting. He started all 16 games last season and was named to the All-GLIAC Second Team.

Also returning for the 'Cats are Ben Wolf who led the team in field goal percentage last season with a mark of 52.3 percent and was second on the team with 4.3 rebounds per game. Northern Michigan has several newcomers joining the team this season.

About Michigan Tech – The Huskies went 15-8 last season including 12-6 in the GLIAC North Division and were runner-up in the GLIAC Tournament. They were the number two seed in the NCAA Midwest Regional and advanced to the regional championship game where they fell to Truman State 65-62.

MTU returns All-American combo guard Owen White and have four starters back in the fold for 2021-22. White was named the GLIAC Player of the Year, First Team All-Midwest District and to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Third Team. He started 21 games and led the GLIAC in scoring with 21.2 points per game. Trent Bell started all 23 games last season for the Huskies averaging 11.4 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and had five double-doubles. Carter Johnson returns as Tech's chief distributor after leading the GLIAC with 5.5 assists per game last season. Eric Carl was the team's top marksman from the outside leading the league with 64 three-pointers in 129 attempts and finished second in the GLIAC in 3-point field goal percentage at 49.6 percent.

The Huskies defeated Division I Ball State in an exhibition contest 70-69 on November 3 in Muncie, Ind. Tech led by as many as 17 points in the second half after the game was tied at 31 at halftime. The Cardinals tied the game with a 12-0 run but a late free throw from White proved to be the difference. Bell led the Huskies with 17 points in the contest.

Series Stuff – Friday's contest marks the 11th meeting all-time between Lewis and Northern Michigan with the Flyers holding a 6-4 lead in the series. However, the Wildcats have won the last three in the series including a 76-63 win two years ago at McKendree.

Lewis leads the all-time series against Michigan Tech 6-5 but the Huskies have won three of the last four meetings including a 63-54 decision at McKendree two years ago.

Up Next – The Flyers head out on the road next week for a game in Detroit against Wayne State (Mich.) at 6 p.m. (CST).