KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Lewis University's men's basketball team won for the 11th time in 13 games as it overcame a 13-point first half deficit to defeat Rockhurst 73-63 on Thursday evening at Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse in Kansas City. The Flyers improve to 11-7, 9-2 GLVC and maintained the top spot in the latest GLVC Point Rating System while the Hawks drop to 10-15, 5-10 GLVC.

Rockhurst came out of the gates red hot shooting 80 percent (8-for-10) including 4-of-6 from three to take an early 23-10 lead with 11:54 left in the opening stanza. Jake Auer scored the Hawks first eight points of the contest while Maxim Romanov added eight more and Rich Bhyre had three and Nick Volz chipped in with a pair.

Lewis chipped away at the lead cutting it five with 4:18 to go in the frame on a layup by Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) but another three from Auer pushed the margin back to eight. The Flyers were able to trim the lead to three at halftime after a jumper from Deon Ejim (Toronto, Canda/TRC Academy) with 0:29 left in the half.

Rockhurst extended its lead to five early in the second half but Lewis answered with an 8-2 run to take its first lead since it was 3-2 on a three-pointer from Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) with 13:09 left in the contest.

The Hawks countered scoring six of the next seven points to retake the lead at 52-48.

The Flyers still trailed by three with less than nine minutes to play but were starting to wear Rockhurst down and would go on a 19-4 run over the next 7:53 to take its largest lead of the night on a dunk from Niego at 71-59 with 1:03 left.

Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) had 12 points in that game deciding run while Bell added three and Niego and Marquise Jackson (Macon, Ga./Windsor Academy) had two points apiece.

Lewis went 12-for-12 at the foul line over the final nine minutes of the contest.

The Flyers finished the contest shooting 46 percent (24-for-52) from the field, were 6-of-25 from three but shot a season-high 91 percent at the charity stripe. Williams led three players in double figures with 21 points while Bell added 19 and Niego had 12. Niego had team-highs in rebounds (7) and assists (4). Lewis outrebounded Rockhurst 37-20 in the contest, outscored them 34-16 in points in the paint and 21-6 in second chance points.

The Hawks shot 45 percent (23-for-51) from the floor, were 6-of-20 from downtown but only made 2-of-their last 14 after the hot start. Rockhurst shot 73 percent at the foul line. Auer, Byhre and Romanov had 14 points apiece while Volz finished with 10.

The Flyers are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Liberty, Mo., to take on William Jewell at 3 p.m. at the Mabee Center.