Bolivar, Mo. – The Lewis Flyers handed SBU their second loss at home Saturday afternoon, moving the Bearcats to 17-5 (10-4 GLVC) on the season.
Lewis got off to a quick 13-4 start, SBU's baskets coming from mid-range baseline shots. Two more quick scores pushed the lead to 18-6 with 13:33 reading on the clock. A jumper from
Brady Smith, three-pointer by
Kent Thomas, and layup from
Tyler Williams cut the lead back to 5, but Lewis continued to score. With 8:37 remaining in the half, Lewis took their largest lead at 12 points.
Mitch Ganote and
Kent Thomas went on a scoring frenzy to bring the deficit back to 26-30 with less than 5 minutes left in the half. The Flyers built their lead back up to 7, but
Damian Prgomet hit a jumper as the buzzer sounded to create a 35-30 Lewis lead at the break.
The visitors began the second half in a similar manner as the first, hitting tough shots.
Brady Smith hit two free throws, as well as a three to keep the Bearcats within 4. The teams maintained a steady back and forth scoring session for a few minutes, before Lewis grabbed a double-digit lead with 8:26 to go. The lead wouldn't reach single digits again, giving the Flyers a 78-60 victory.
Lewis shot 58.8% from the field with 38 rebounds.
Kent Thomas led the team off the bench, scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 rebounds in just 15 minutes of playing time.
Brady Smith and
Damian Prgomet also hit double digit numbers, scoring 13 and 11 points respectively. Prgomet contributed 7 rebounds and added another 2 blocks to his career total.
Next week, the Bearcats head to William Jewell on Thursday, and Rockhurst on Saturday. Those tip-off times are scheduled for 7:30 PM and 3:00 PM.