ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team used a big second half run and then had to withstand a late rally from Maryville to defeat the Saints 69-61 on Monday evening at Neil Carey Arena. The Flyers (15-10) advance to the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament and will play seventh seed McKendree this Thursday (March 2) at 8:30 p.m. at First Community Arena in Edwardsville, Ill. Maryville finishes its season with a record of 12-17.

Lewis, seeded second, jumped out to an early six point lead but Maryville, seeded 15th, responded with an 8-0 run over the span of two minutes to take its only lead of the contest at 14-12 after a layup by Cameron Scales. The Flyers came right back with a 12-0 run to build its largest lead of the half at 24-14 after a dunk from Connor Niego (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) with an assist from Marquise Jackson (Macon, Ga./Windsor Academy) with 6:02 remaining in the stanza.

The Saints cut it to four with less than 0:40 left in the frame on a layup from Daniel Farris but two free throws by Beau Frericks (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove) gave Lewis a six-point lead at the half.

Maryville outscored the Flyers 6-3 over the first three-plus minutes of the second half to trim the halftime lead to 33-30 but that would be the closest they got as the Flyers went on a 27-9 run over the next 10 minutes to build its largest lead of the contest on a jumper Kawanise Wilkins (Chicago, Ill./Farragut) with 6:48 remaining.

The Saints wouldn't go quietly using an 18-3 run over the next 5:41 to cut Lewis' lead to just six points at 63-57 on a layup by Farris with 1:07 left in the contest. The Flyers were able to close the contest out hitting all four of their free throws and got a layup from Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) on the break in the final minute to seal the victory.

The Flyers shot 47 percent (26-for-55) from the floor in the contest, they were 4-of-16 from three but shot 78 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded Maryville 39-28 and turned 15 Saint turnovers into 25 points. Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) led all scorers with 15 points in the contest while Niego and Frericks had 11 apiece and Jackson added 10 more on 5-of-5 shooting. Niego also added a season-high 15 boards for his eighth double-double of the season.

Maryville finished the contest shooting 42 percent (25-for-59) from the field including 9-of-28 from three but shot only 29 percent at the foul line. Farris led the Saints with 13 points and Ari Jackson added 10 more.

Lewis won the two earlier meetings against McKendree this year, 78-62 in Lebanon, Ill., and 70-62 at home.