Box Score (ROMEOVILLE, Ill., Jan. 15)—The McKendree University men's basketball team kicked off a five-game road trip with a 97-70 loss Thursday night at Lewis University.
The host Flyers shot 62.1 percent in the first half to build a 20-point lead and hold off the Bearcats in a Great Lakes Valley Conference battle. McKendree had its two-game win streak snapped with the loss. The Bearcats are now 8-5 overall and 1-4 in GLVC play and will be in Somers, Wis., on Saturday for another conference tussle against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Four Bearcats scored in double figures against Lewis. Senior forward
Logan Carson (DuQuoin, IL/DuQuoin) paced McKendree with 16 points while senior forward
Matt Holmes (Houston, TX/Marshall) added 14 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Holmes also had a game-high four steals against the Flyers. Junior forward
John Murphy (Peoria, IL/Richwoods) netted 12 points and sophomore guard
Michael Jackson (O'Fallon, IL/O'Fallon) contributed 10 points in the effort.
Lewis jumped out to a quick 9-2 lead before McKendree battled back. Jackson capped a 10-2 run on a three-pointer with 15:36 left in the first half to push the Bearcats to a 12-11 advantage. Following a rare four-point play on the Flyers' next possession, Murphy drained a three-pointer to knot the contest at 15-15. Lewis responded with a 15-4 run to regain a 30-19 lead at the 11:07 mark, and the Flyers never trailed again.
In the first half, Lewis was 18-of-29 from the field while hitting all but one of its free throw attempts. The Flyers led 54-34 at the half and eventually stretched the margin to as many as 28 points in collecting the conference victory.
Max Strus poured in a game-high 24 points to lead the way for Lewis, which is now 11-3 overall and 3-2 in the GLVC. Ryan Jackson and David Niggins each added 14 points, while Julian Lewis pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for the Flyers.
McKendree and Lewis will meet one more time this season on Feb. 21 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon.
