KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - The Lewis University men's basketball team dropped a 73-66 decision at Great Lakes Valley Conference leader and No. 7 ranked Truman State Saturday (Feb. 6). The loss drops the Flyers to 7-8 overall and in the GLVC, while the Bulldogs have won seven straight games and are now 12-1 overall and in the GLVC.
 
The Flyers jumped out of the gate quickly with a pair of three-pointers from Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) and Artese Stapleton (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood) to take an early 6-0 advantage. Truman bounced back and went on an 11-0 run to take a 17-10 lead with 8:09 left in the first half. Marco Pettinato (Mokena, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) broke the run with a layup and Vlado Zrnic (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) followed that with a jumper to get the Flyers back to within three points at 17-14.
 
Truman would maintain its lead for the rest of the half and led the Flyers 31-26 at the half.
 
Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) scored seven quick points for the Flyers in the second half to get the Flyres to within two points at 38-36 with 15:46 remaining in the game, but the Bulldogs scored 10 of the next 12 points to take their largest lead of the game at 48-38 with 12:27 left.
 
The lead grew to as many as 14 points at 61-47 with 3:32 remaining in the game. Lewis chipped away at the deficit as Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) made a pair of free throws, followed by a Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) three-pointer with 2:41 left to make it 61-52.
 
A Marquise Jackson (Macon, Ga./Windsor Academy) steal and layup cut into the lead even further on the next possession at 61-54. But Truman was able to trade points on the next pair of possessions with Lewis until a Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) three-pointer with 21 seconds left made it a two-possession game at 69-63.
 
Truman hit a pair of free throws and Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) answered with another three-pointer to cut the lead to five with 10 seconds left. But again the Bulldogs made a pair of free throws to clinch the game.
 
Lewis was led by Trevian Bell's (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) 17 points, all of which in the second half, while Stapleton added 12 points and Niego tallied eight rebounds. The Flyers shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) from the floor, while Truman was 46.3 percent (25-of-54). The Bulldogs outscored the Flyers 16-8 at the free-throw line. The Flyers outrebounded the Bulldogs 30-26, but committed 14 turnovers to 10 from Truman.
 
The Flyers return to action Thursday (Feb. 11) when William Jewell comes to Neil Carey Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip.