ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team hits the road this week for a pair of games at Quincy on Thursday (Feb. 4) and at Truman State on Saturday (Feb. 6). The Flyers and Hawks will tip off at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday and Saturday's game is scheduled to tip at 3 p.m. in Kirksville, Mo.
Lewis looks to snap its five-game losing streak on Thursday and sweep the season series against Quincy. The two teams met on Nov. 29 in Romeoville with the Flyers coming away with a 77-70 victory.
Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) led four Lewis players in double figures in that contest with 14 points while
Brandon McCombs (Jacksonville, Ill./Jacksonville) and
Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) added 12 points each and
Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) finished with 10 points.
Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) finished with eight points and 10 rebounds in that contest.
Lewis leads the all-time series against the Hawks 37-18 and has won five of the last six meetings.
Last Time Out – The Flyers led by as many as nine in the first half and trailed by as many as 10 in the second half but rallied to tie the game on
Vlado Zrnic's (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) tip-in off a Stapleton miss with less than 0:10 to play in regulation to force overtime. Lewis scored the first basket of the extra session but Illinois Springfield ran off eight straight to take a 73-67 lead and held on for a 78-75 win.
Stapleton led the Flyers with 19 points while Zrnic scored all 15 of his career-high points in the second half and overtime. Williams and
Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) finished with 12 points apiece.
GLVC Point Rating System – Lewis is currently ranked seventh in the GLVC point rating system which determines the eight teams that qualify for the GLVC Tournament in March. The top four seeds will host a quarterfinal game on March 2nd and then after the quarterfinal round games the highest remaining seed will host the semifinals and championship contests.
D-Fense – The Flyers rank fourth in the GLVC in scoring defense holding their opponents to 69.5 points per game this season. Lewis has held its last 12 opponents to less than 80 points per game and six of those to less than 70. The Flyers allowed a season low 47 points in its 73-47 win at Rockhurst on Jan. 3.
About Quincy – The Hawks enter Thursday's contest with a record of 4-10 overall and in the GLVC and have lost four of their last five contests. Last Saturday they dropped an 86-78 decision at UIndy. Charles Callier led the way with 22 points and Paul Zilinskas added 14 points.
Tanner Stuckman leads the team in scoring with an average of 18 points per outing and is joined in double figures by Viktor Kovacevic with 15.3 per contest and Callier at 13.6 per game.
About Truman – The Bulldogs enter Thursday's game against UIndy with a record of 10-1 overall and in the conference, are winners of five straight and are ranked seventh in this week's NABC Division II Coaches Poll.
Thursday's contest will be Truman's first contest since Jan. 16 when it defeated Maryville 72-47 in Kirksville. The Bulldogs have had their last three games postponed due to COVID protocols within their program.
In their win over the Saints, Dylan Peters finished with 17 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Elijah Hazekamp matched Peters with 17 points while Alex McQuinn added 10 points off the bench.
Series History vs. Truman – Saturday's contest marks the 13th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Bulldogs with Lewis holding a 7-5 advantage. Truman has won five of the last seven meetings in the series including an 86-65 win over the Flyers at Neil Carey Arena to open this season back on November 27.
Up Next – Lewis returns to Neil Carey Arena next Thursday (Feb. 11) as it welcomes William Jewell to town for a 7:30 p.m. contest.
