Lebanon, Ill. - McKendree's Cha'Vez Woods tallied 17 points while his teammate Rini Harris snagged a team-best seven rebounds and had 11 points of his own to help down the Lewis University men's basketball team, 68-44, in Great Lakes Valley Conference action Friday night.
IMPACT PLAYERS
Along with his 11 points, Harris dished out a team-best four assists for the Bearcats (10-2, 3-1 GLVC) in the win. McKendree also found bench support as they tallied 26 bench points compared to 18 for Lewis in the low scoring affair. The Bearcats dominated the contest in points off turnovers with 20 scores off 17 turnovers compared to two tallied off of nine turnovers for Lewis
Arius Alijosius (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) paced the Flyers (3-9, 1-3 GLVC) with nine points.
Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) and
Mac Hagemaster (Frankfort, Ill./Homewood-Flossmoor) each collected a team-best five boards while
Billy Durkin (Hinsdale, Ill./Wheaton) tallied three assists in the loss. Lewis went 13-of-50 (.260) from the floor compared to McKendree who shot at a clip of .410 (25-of-61).
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Flyers and Bearcats exchanged the first two buckets of the contest with Lewis leading 3-2 at the 18:34 mark after a Alijosius triple. That was the final lead the Flyers held in the contest as a Woods basket moments later sparked an 11-2 run that gave McKendree a 13-5 cushion with 15:09 left in the half. The Bearcats never slowed down and limited Lewis to just four-of-25 (.160) shooting in the opening frame while using multiple long scoring runs of their own to enter the locker room with a 39-19 edge.
McKendree never slowed down after the break as they rattled off the first 10 points of the new stanza before a Hall triple got the Flyers on the board with 16:40 left in the half. Both sides exchanged buckets for the remainder of the contest with McKendree never letting their lead dip below 20.
GAME NOTES
- Despite the loss, Lewis is still 20-5 all-time against McKendree
- Alijosius led the Flyers in scoring for the seventh consecutive contest
- Durkin's three assists matched his season-high which he set on Dec. 4 against UMSL
UP NEXT
Lewis concludes its weekend road swing on Sunday at Maryville. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
For the latest news and updates on Lewis men's basketball, visit LewisFlyers.com and follow the Flyers on social media at @lewisflyersmbb on Instagram and @Lewismball on X.
