Feb. 26, 2005

Box Score

KENOSHA, Wis. - Lewis entered Saturday's regular-season finale at Wisconsin-Parkside needing a win to gain entry into the eight-team Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, but some late heroics gave the host Rangers a 79-77 victory that brought the Flyers' season to a close.

The Flyers did all they could to extend head coach Kyle Green's first season, shooting 51.7 percent from the floor - their third-best accuracy mark in a conference game this season - and committing just 11 turnovers.

Pat Monaghan scored a season-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, including three 3-pointers, and also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Anthony Scala concluded his Lewis career with a bang, nailing four treys and scoring 20 points.

Trailing 60-51 with 12:35 left, Lewis (10-17, 5-15) got a 3-pointer from Monaghan, a traditional 3-point play from Steve Turner and a Dustin Warfield layup to trim the Parkside lead to 60-59 at the 8:58 mark.

The Rangers (10-17, 7-13) regrouped and stretched the margin back to seven points on three occasions, the last being a 70-63 advantage with 5:49 left, before the Flyers assembled another run that had them sensing victory.

Turner began the 11-1 outburst with a pair of free throws, part of his 6-of-7 performance on the afternoon. John Loeffelholz followed with a traditional 3-point play, Scala's 3-pointer after a Loeffelholz steal tied the game at 71, and Monaghan's trey with 1:00 remaining gave Lewis a 74-71 lead.

The Flyers led 77-74 with 0:29 showing after Parkside's Gareth Malkowski and Scala traded 3-pointers. Unfortunately, Scala's bucket was the last shot of the game for Lewis.

On Parkside's next possession, Tyrone Deacon missed both ends of a two-shot free-throw opportunity. The Rangers rebounded the second miss, and Randy Wright swatted Malkowski's 3-point attempt out of bounds with 0:19 remaining.

Deacon then redeemed himself in a big way, tying the game at 77 by sinking a 3-pointer with 0:16 left, then stealing the ball and drawing a foul. He left the door open again by making just one free throw, but another turnover prevented the Flyers from attempting a potential game-winning shot, and a final Parkside free throw with 0:02 left accounted for the final margin.

In a close first half that featured five ties, the Flyers built a five-point lead midway through. However, Parkside outscored Lewis 8-2 in the last 3:44 and took a 37-34 edge into the locker room.

Turner closed his collegiate career by joining Monaghan and Scala in double figures with 13 points, and fellow senior Wright had six assists and a career-high two blocked shots.

Deacon was 6-of-11 from 3-point distance and led all scorers with 25 points. He added nine assists and five rebounds. Kevin Boutelle registered 19 points and six rebounds, and Malkowski netted five 3-pointers and scored 17 points.