Jan. 13, 2004

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team jumped 11 spots to No. 14 in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches/Division II Bulletin national poll.

The 11-place improvement ties for the Flyers for the biggest move in this week's ratings. Washburn (Kan.) jumped from No. 24 to No. 13.

Lewis is 13-1 overall and sits alone atop the Great Lakes Valley Conference standings with a 7-0 league record. The Flyers own a 12-game winning streak, the longest in Jim Whitesell's 12 seasons as head coach and one shy of the school record set by the 1985-86 team.

Lewis hosts GLVC opponents Saint Joseph's Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and second-place Indianapolis (7-1) - ranked No. 7 nationally - Saturday at 3 p.m. Should Lewis and Indianapolis win their Thursday games, the winner of Saturday's showdown most likely will be the top-rated team in the season's first Great Lakes Region rankings next week.

This week's Lewis games feature the GLVC's top two scorers challenging a stingy Flyer defense that ranks second in the league in opponents' scoring average (65.4). Corey Seegers of Saint Joseph's leads the conference with a 21.2 scoring mark, followed by David Logan of Indianapolis at 21.0.

For Lewis, Monta McGhee ranks sixth in scoring (17.5) and is tied for second in rebounding with teammate Sidney Holmes (8.2). Demitrius Hunter tops the league in 3-point accuracy (61.5 percent) and is fourth in overall field goal shooting (63.8 percent).