ROMEOVILLE, Ill. -- The Lewis University men's basketball team won, 84-70, over William Jewell Saturday (Feb. 24) at Neil Carey Arena on Senior Day. It was a key win for the Flyers' GLVC standing, as both teams came into the game at 10-7 in conference play.

Before the game, the Flyers honored seniors Gary Solomon (Eastpointe, Mich.), Cem Kirciman (Bursa, Turkey/Wisconsin-Green Bay), Jalen Wilmington (Chicago, Ill./Crete Monee), Colin Kenney (Michigan City, Ind./Marquette) and Beau Frericks (Cary, Ill./Cary Grove).

TEAM RECORDS
Lewis 15-11, 11-7 GLVC | William Jewell 16-10, 10-8 GLVC

LEWIS LEADERS
Points: Solomon (16), Frericks (15), Devon Vanderheydt (Washington, Ill./Washington) (15), Paxton Warden (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard West) (14)
Rebounds: Solomon (7)
Assists: Solomon (5)
Steals: Anthony Sayles Jr. (Evanston, Ill./Notre Dame Prep) (2)
Blocks: Solomon (1)

SUMMARY
Lewis scored first as Rob Stroud (Danville, Ill.) got a dunk on the Flyers' first possession, starting a 9-0 run with five points from Frericks. William Jewell fought back with seven of the next nine points to make it 11-7.

Warden scored Lewis' next four points, but the Cardinals kept pushing to get within three at 15-12. Later, the Flyers charged ahead with a 14-2 run including three-pointers by Vanderheydt and Sayles to push the lead to 31-16.

An alley-oop by Jewell stopped the run, and the Cardinals later got back to within 10 after a three made it 33-23. Solomon helped Lewis build the lead again with back-to-back buckets.

Both sides traded baskets from there until halftime, with the Flyers leading 43-29 at the break. Lewis shot 20/35 (.571) from the field in the first half, and held Jewell to just 1/13 (.077) from three-point range.

Warden opened the second half scoring with a deep ball, and both sides went back-and-forth from there. With 12:38 to play, the Flyers' lead grew to over 20 points after a three-point shot from Vanderheydt made it 59-37 Lewis.

But the Cardinals wouldn't go down easy, immediately responding with an 8-0 push, and getting within 11 points after finishing a 7-0 charge with 3:27 left to make it 71-60 in favor of the Flyers. Another big three-pointer from Warden stopped that run and added some more cushion to the lead.

Lewis' lead grew again after a Vanderheydt triple made it 79-62 with 1:35 to go, and prompted both teams to take out their starters. Kenney hit a three-pointer to finish the scoring in the Flyers' 84-70 victory.

UP NEXT
Lewis men's basketball hits the road for the final week of the regular season, heading to Lebanon, Ill. for a matchup with McKendree Thursday (Feb. 29) at 7:30 p.m. CT.