Dec. 6, 2003

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Austin Real scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Lewis University men's basketball team to a 96-75 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Bellarmine Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena.

The win was Lewis' fifth in succession and kept the Flyers (6-1, 4-0 GLVC) tied with Indianapolis and Southern Indiana atop the conference standings. Bellamine fell to 1-7 and 0-4 with its sixth consecutive loss.

Lewis is 4-0 in GLVC play for the first time since the 1985-86 season. That Flyer team went on to win the league title under head coach Chuck Schwarz.

Real was 9-of-14 from the field and 6-of-6 at the foul line. His previous career best was a 23-point outing against Quincy last season.

The offensive outburst lifted Real into 22nd place on the Flyers' career scoring chart with 1,135 points. He needs just four points to move into the top 20.

After Lewis built a 41-27 lead with 3:19 to play in the first half, back-to-back 3-pointers by Bruce Johnson and Adam Etienne sparked a 10-4 Bellarmine run that put the Knights down by eight, 45-37, at halftime.

Lewis quickly established a 17-point lead in the second half, as six Flyers combined to score 20 points in the first 5:15 for a 65-48 cushion.

Bellarmine was not finished, as the Knights battled back with a 14-6 spurt that sliced the Flyer lead to 71-62 at the 10:05 mark. But Lewis turned up the defensive pressure and outscored the visitors 15-4 over the next 5 1/2 minutes to secure the victory, its sixth in a row and 12th in 13 games against Bellarmine.

Demitrius Hunter, who ranks third in the GLVC in field-goal percentage (.673), was 6-of-8 from the floor and 5-of-6 at the line to finish with 17 points. He added four assists.

Randy Wright tallied 16 points and four assists, and Monta McGhee collected 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Sidney Holmes just missed a third consecutive double-double with nine points and nine boards, and Steve Turner had five assists.

Johnson and Zach Miller scored 16 points apiece to lead Bellarmine, with Miller adding a game-high seven assists. Victor Pierson scored 13 points, Etienne had 12 points and four assists, Caleb Halcomb netted 10 points and Torey Meagher had a team-high six rebounds.

Lewis' 44-23 rebounding advantage included 18 offensive rebounds. The Flyers outrebounded their opponents 126-78 and averaged 16 offensive boards in their three victories this week.

Foul shooting also was a big key, as Lewis was 28-of-38 at the line to Bellarmine's 12-of-17. After shooting just 60 percent in their first four games, the Flyers are 69-of-89 (77.5 percent) at the stripe in their last three outings.

The Flyers take next week off for final exams, then host non-conference opponent Northwood Dec. 15 at 7:30 p.m.