ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team looks to extend its winning streak to three as it welcomes local rival St. Francis to Neil Carey Arena for a 7 p.m. contest this Thursday (Dec. 16).
The Flyers enter Thursday's game with a record of 2-5 and are coming off of back-to-back against Indianapolis and McKendree to open Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
Lewis struggled to get its offense going in the first five games of the season as it was held to 59.6 points per contest while shooting 40.7 percent from the field including just 31 percent from three and 62 percent (52-of-84) from the charity stripe.
The Flyers shot a season-high 48.2 percent from the floor in the win against the Greyhounds on Dec. 2 with 11 three's and shot 83 percent at the foul line. They followed it up at McKendree shooting a season best 67 percent from downtown and 44.4 percent overall for the contest.
Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) leads the team in scoring with nearly 15 points per outing while
Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) is at nearly 13 points per game. Niego also leads the team in rebounding at 8.9 rebounds per game.
Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) and
Austin Boucher (Fort Wayne, Ind./Fort Wayne North Side) share the team lead in assists with 16 and Williams is the team leader with 11 steals.
St. Francis enters Thursday's game with a record of 7-4 and are 4-4 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Fighting Saints snapped a three-game losing streak on Saturday defeating Holy Cross College (Ind.) 66-656.
USF is led in scoring by Joey Buggemi at 13.3 points per contest and he is joined in double figures by EJ Charles at 11.5 points per outing and Carlos Tovias with 10.9 points per game. Lewis Holey leads the team in rebounding at 8.5 per contest while Russell Tillery has a team best 37 assists and Holey leads the squad with 17 steals. Charles has a team best 16 blocked shots.
As a team, the Fighting Saints are averaging 76.5 points per contest while allowing 73.1 per game. They're shooting 44.3 percent from the field, have knocked down 94 three-pointers and are shooting 75 percent at the charity stripe. USF is also averaging nearly 39 rebounds per game.
