Jan. 2, 2004

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Lewis University men's basketball team waited almost 10 months to ease the hurt induced by last season's loss to Southern Indiana in the first round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional.

Following Friday night's Great Lakes Valley Conference showdown at USI's Physical Activities Center Arena, the Flyers were feeling no pain.

Lewis, ranked 25th in Division II, raced to a 10-2 lead and never trailed on its way to an 82-77 triumph over top-ranked Southern Indiana.

The victory, Lewis' 10th in a row, lifted the Flyers to 11-1 overall and 5-0 in the GLVC. Coach Jim Whitesell's team is tied with 16th-ranked Indianapolis, a 95-92 overtime winner Friday night at Northern Kentucky, for the GLVC lead.

Lewis and Indianapolis meet Jan. 17 at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville.

Sidney Holmes scored six points and Monta McGhee scored the other four in the Flyers' opening spurt. Southern Indiana didn't score until Geoff Van Winkle made a layup at 16:33.

The Screaming Eagles (11-1, 4-1 GLVC) assembled a 16-8 run, sparked by a pair of Van Winkle 3-pointers, to earn an 18-18 tie with 8:01 left in the first half.

The Flyers responded strongly, embarking on a 19-8 outburst to close the half. In typical Lewis fashion, six players scored during the run that resulted in a 37-26 halftime lead for the visitors.

Lewis shot 53.3 percent (16 of 30) from the field to USI's 30.8 percent (8 of 26) and outrebounded the Eagles 24-11 in the sloppy first half, which included 15 Lewis turnovers and 13 USI miscues.

The Flyers turned away two USI runs in the first 11 minutes of the second half.

A 9-2 Eagle run in the first three minutes sliced the Flyer lead to 39-35. Following a timeout, McGhee and Demitrius Hunter scored two buckets apiece to fuel a 12-5 Lewis run that restored the 11-point lead, 51-40.

USI scored the next six points, but Steve Turner hit a jumper and Austin Real buried a 3-pointer to put Lewis up 56-46 at the 9:28 mark.

The hosts chipped away the rest of the way and pulled to within three points on two occasions, the second time at 70-67 with 3:02 left. Hunter nailed a 3-pointer seconds later to swing the momentum back to Lewis, and the Flyers sank seven of eight free-throw tries in the stretch run to secure the win.

McGhee led the Flyer scoring effort with 17 points and added eight rebounds and three steals. Turner scored 14 points off the bench, his second-best output of the season, and also had three steals.

Hunter was 4-of-4 from the field and at the foul line and finished with 13 points and five rebounds, while Holmes tallied 12 points and 11 rebounds and Randy Wright netted 11 points. DeAndre Williams collected a career-high five rebounds, and Real had eight points, six rebounds and four assists.

John Oden led USI with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Van Winkle scored 19 on the strength of 4-of-6 shooting from 3-point distance. Clarence Chillers and Joe Gordon scored 11 points apiece.

Lewis cooled to 46.7 percent in the second half and finished at an even 50 percent (30-of-60). The Flyers, who struggled at the foul line their previous two outings, were 18-of-22 (81.8 percent) at the stripe and gained an impressive 42-31 rebounding edge.

USI was 21-of-38 (55.3 percent) after the break and finished at 45.3 percent (29-of-64). The Eagles were hampered by poor shooting from beyond the arc - they were just 2-of-14 apart from Van Winkle's performance - and at the foul line (13-of-22, 59.1 percent).

Lewis plays at Missouri-St. Louis Sunday afternoon.