ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team opens a three-game homestand this Thursday (Feb. 3) as it welcomes Truman State to Neil Carey Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip. The Flyers and Bulldogs met on Monday (Jan. 31) in Kirksville, Mo., with Lewis coming away with the 65-56 victory for their eighth win in its last nine games.

ICYMI – Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) scored a career-high 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting while Beau Frericks (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) added 12 points off the bench in Monday's win at Truman. The Flyers led by as many as 11 in the contest and withstood a late Bulldog run to secure the victory and snap a three-game losing streak against Truman.

Fan Policy – Lewis University announced that beginning on Tuesday (Feb. 1) that it's lifting its restrictions on the attendance policy for indoor events. All visiting fans and Lewis students will be allowed to attend games at Neil Carey Arena.

D-Fence – Over their last nine games the Flyers have outscored their opponents by 100 points and have held the opposition to 65.1 points per game. They've held seven of those nine opponents to under 70 points and teams are shooting only 40.5 percent from the field and just 31 percent from three.

From Downtown – Lewis is the top three-point shooting team in the GLVC in league games this year at 48.5 percent and are averaging over nine three's made per game. Frericks is shooting at 60 percent clip while Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) has hit 58.3 percent of his attempts, Anthony Sayles Jr. (Evanston, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) has made 52 percent of his shots and Niego is at 46.4 percent.

Protecting the Rock – The Flyers have turned the ball over an average of 9.4 per game while forcing the opposition to turn it over nearly 13 times per game. Lewis has a turnover margin of +3.4 and an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.7.

About Truman – The Bulldogs enter Thursday's rematch with a record of 13-6 on the season but are 7-4 in GLVC play and have lost three of their last four games. Cade McKnight leads the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game while Masen Miller is contributing 13.6 points per contest and Elijah Hazekamp is averaging 11.5 points per outing. McKnight also leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game and Dylan Peeters is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. Hunter Strait is second in the GLVC in assists at 4.74 per game.

About Quincy – The Hawks enter Thursday's contest at Illinois Springfield with a record of 11-12, 4-9 in the GLVC and have dropped six of their last eight contest. Quincy picked up an 85-77 win over Maryville on Monday evening at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill. Malik Hardmon leads the Hawks in scoring at 14.2 points per game while Paul Zilinskas is contributing 11.7 and Nate Shockey is at 10.3 points per contest respectively. Hardmon is also the team's leading rebounder with 5.5 rebounds per contest and Jamaurie Coakley has handed out a team-best 74 assists.

About Illinois Springfield – The Prairie Stars are 9-11 on the season, 4-8 in GLVC action and have dropped five straight. UIS fell at Rockhurst 73-64 on Monday evening despite 20 points from Chase Robinson.
Robinson is the team's leading scorer at nearly 14 points per game while James Kelley and Chris Hamil are averaging 11.6 and 11.2 points per contest respectively. Jack Weber leads the team in rebounding with 5.5 per game and Robinson has handed out a team-high 38 assists.

Series Stuff – Lewis leads the all-time series against Truman 8-6 after Monday evening's win. Thursday's contest is the fifth meeting at Neil Carey Arena with the series tied 2-2.

Saturday's contest is the 57th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Hawks with Lewis holding a 38-18 advantage in the series and have won 10 of the last 13 overall. The Flyers swept the season series a year ago defeating Quincy 77-70 in Romeoville and then defeated the Hawks 94-75 in Quincy.

Lewis has won 18 of the previous 23 meetings against Illinois Springfield including an 83-63 victory on Thursday (Jan. 27) in Springfield. That win snapped UIS' two-game winning streak in the series. The Flyers are 11-2 all-time against the Prairie Stars at Neil Carey Arena.

Up Next – Lewis heads to Kansas City for a pair of contests against Rockhurst (Feb. 10) and William Jewell (Feb. 12).