ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team looks to maintain its hold of the top spot in the race for the number one seed in the GLVC Tournament as it heads to Kansas City this weekend to take on Rockhurst and William Jewell. The Flyers and Hawks meet on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in Kansas City while Lewis and the Cardinals are set to meet on Saturday at 3 p.m. in Liberty.
Last Time Out – The Flyers shook off a slow start to pick up their 10th win in their last 12 games with a 71-63 win over Illinois Springfield on Monday evening at Neil Carey.
Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) finished with a season-high 16 points in the contest to lead Lewis.
GLVC Tournament – The Flyers remained first in the second edition of the GLVC Point Rating System (PRS) which determines the seeds for the GLVC Tournament. The top seed in the final PRS rankings will get a first round bye and advance to the quarterfinals at SIU-Edwardsville on March 3. Seeds two-eight will host first round contests on Monday (Feb. 28) with the winners advancing to Edwardsville.
For Whom The Bell Tolls – Bell scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half of Monday's win over the Prairie Stars. He was 3-of-5 from the field, 1-of-2 from three and shot 83 percent at the foul line.
AK OK – Atakan Sahinkaya (Istanbul, Turkey/Perkiomen School) is averaging 16 points in his last two games. He scored a season-high 20 points against Quincy on Saturday and then added 12 points against UIS on Monday. In those two games he's shot 12-for-17 from the floor and 8-of-8 at the foul line while adding 13 boards, four assists, four steals and four blocked shots.
About Rockhurst – The Hawks enter Thursday's contest with a record of 10-14, 5-9 in the GLVC and have dropped three straight after their 93-72 loss at Missouri-St. Louis on Monday. Nick Volz is the team's leading scorer and rebounder with 14.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. He's also dished out a team-high 76 assists.
About William Jewell – The Cardinals enter Thursday's game against Illinois Springfield with a record of 11-11, 7-7 in the GLVC after coming up short in a 72-65 loss at Drury on Saturday. WJC has lost five of its last seven contests. Jordan Jermain leads the Cardinals in scoring with 14.2 points per game while Kobe McKinley is averaging 12.4 points per contest and Mason Alexander is chipping in with 11.1 per outing. Heri Tshiyoyo leads the team with 8.4 rebounds per game.
Series Stuff – Thursday's game at Rockhurst marks the 19th meeting all-time between the Flyers and Hawks with Lewis leading the series 14-4 and have won 11 of the last 12 contests. The Flyers swept the season series last year defeating Rockhurst 73-47 in Kansas City and 79-66 in Romeoville.
Lewis and William Jewell will meet for the 10th time on Saturday with the Flyers having won seven of the first nine contests. The Flyers picked up a 75-66 win over the Cardinals last season at Neil Carey Arena.
Up Next – Lewis begins a three -game homestand next Thursday (Feb. 17) as it hosts Drury at 7:30 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.
