Box Score St. Louis, MO - The Lewis University Men's Basketball team fell 53-63 against University of Missouri - St. Louis to wrap up the Flyers' Basketball double header on the road.
 
IMPACT PLAYERS
 Arius Alijosius (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) led the Flyers in scoring after getting 17 points on 40% shooting. Alijosius showed up for Lewis tonight in an attempt to bring back home a road win against the hosts, as he attempted 15 shots total, more attempts than any other player from either side. He also led the team in rebounds (eight) and came up second on total assists with two, behind Cale Cosme (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) who assisted five. Cosme's 12 points made him the only other player on Lewis' team that managed to get double digits in scoring today.
 
For USML, four of five starters were on double digit scoring, led by Demetris Phillips' 19 points on 72.7% shooting.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 The hosts opened the game with a strong scoring streak, getting 11 straight points around the 16:14 mark of the first half, making it the largest lead of the game. During this period, the Flyers went scoreless. It wasn't until almost five minutes into the game that Cosme's three pointer put the Flyers on the board, which started Lewis' first half comeback. 
 
With only four minutes to go in the first half, a layup by USML's Vincent Davis III brought the lead to five points. Coming off a timeout called with 3:11 left in the first half, Arius Alijosius' (Riverside, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) jumper brought the game back to a three point difference. The Flyers' Ryan Hall (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont) stole the ball with 19 seconds to go in the first half. With only seconds to go, Cosme assisted Alijosius, who shot a successful three point shot with only two seconds left, tying the score 26-26, completing the Flyers' first half comeback. 
 
Although the Flyers came back from down 11 points in the first half, their efforts were cut short by a dominant performance from the hosts in the second half. The Tritons came out of the halftime break shooting an impressive 56.5% from the field and out-rebounding the Flyers 17-9. Once the Tritons opened the score just 24 seconds into the second half, they maintained the lead for the rest of the game. 
 
The Flyers fought until the end, trailing only by six points with 41 seconds to go, after a layup by Cosme brought the game to 53-59. Unfortunately, the hosts managed to score again, bringing the lead back up to 8, and then two free throws made saw USML lead by double digits for a final score of 53-63. With this loss, the Lewis University Men's Basketball team falls to 4-17.
 
UP NEXT
 The Flyers will travel back home to host Maryville University this upcoming Thursday (Feb. 12) at Neil Carey Arena with tip-off time set at 7:30 PM.

---

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.