ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Lewis University men's basketball team dropped a 49-48 decision to Maryville Thursday (Feb. 24) in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Moloney Arena. The Flyers fall to 14-9 overall, 12-4 in the GLVC, while Maryville moves to 11-16, 5-14 in the GLVC.

Maryville's Kelvin Swims scored on a driving layup with five seconds left to give the Saints a 49-48 lead. Marquise Jackson (Macon, Ga./Windsor Academy) got one final chance for Lewis, but his floater in the lane at the buzzer went in and out.
 
The Flyers opened the game scoring the first six points as Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) scored the first three baskets of the contest. Maryville came back with a 12-3 run over the next 9:45 to take a 12-9 lead with 6:44 left in the half.
 
Trailing 14-11 the Flyers scored five straight points as Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) hit a jumper and drilled a three-pointer to put them back on top 16-14. After a Maryville basket Beau Frericks (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to 19-16 and Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) extended the lead on a layup. Maryville scored the final points of the half, leaving the Flyers up 21-18 at the break.
 
The two teams traded baskets throughout the early stages of the second half, with the Saints briefly taking a two possession lead at 33-29 with 14:14 remaining in the contest, but Williams came right back with a three-pointer to cut the deficit back to one. Anthony Sayles Jr. (Evanston, Ill./Notre Dame College Prep) followed with a conventional three-point play to give Lewis a 35-33 lead.
 
The next two possession lead would not come until 1:59 remained in the game when the Flyers finished off a 5-0 run with a Bell free throw to take a 46-42 lead. Just six seconds later Maryville came back with a three-pointer to make it 46-45.
 
Maryville took the lead on a layup with 22 seconds left, but a pair of Williams free throws with 16 seconds left gave Lewis the lead back, setting up the final seconds.
 
Williams scored 18 points to lead Lewis, while Niego had eight boards to go with eight points. The Flyers shot 35.7 percent (20-of-56) from the floor and 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from beyond the arc, while Maryville shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the floor and 33.3 percent (6-of-18) from long range. Maryville won the rebounding battle 40-34, while Lewis forced 11 turnovers, while committing only seven.
 
The Flyers conclude their regular season Saturday at Missouri S&T with a 3 p.m. tipoff.