Jan. 18, 2007

Box Score

ST. LOUIS - Stephan Bolt scored 21 points and collected a career-high 19 rebounds, and Brandon Dagans scored 23 points Thursday night to power Lewis to a 74-63 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory over Missouri-St. Louis.

Bolt registered the 10th double-double and 14th double-figure rebounding total of his career. The 19 boards (eight offensive) are the most by a GLVC player this season.

Meanwhile, Dagans enjoyed a seventh consecutive game scoring 20 or more points. He was 6-of-10 from the floor, including a 3-pointer, and 10-of-13 at the foul line.

Lewis (9-7, 4-4) outscored UMSL (5-10, 1-7) 26-9 at the stripe. The Flyers attempted a season-high 35 free throws.

At 4-4 in conference play, Lewis is tied with Wisconsin-Parkside and Bellarmine in a tight GLVC East Division race. Northern Kentucky and Indianapolis are atop the division at 5-3, and Saint Joseph's is 4-3.

The Flyers held a slight lead for most of the first half, but a late 8-2 run gave the Rivermen a 33-27 advantage with less than a minute to play.

However, Lewis regained some momentum before intermission. Matthew Marino scored four of his 10 points in the final 46 seconds to cut the UMSL lead to 33-31 at the break.

After the Flyers tied the score at 33, UMSL went on a 16-8 surge and led 49-41 with 12:19 remaining. Lewis battled back with a 13-4 run, including seven points from Dagans and two baskets by Kendall Patterson, and took a 54-53 edge with 7:53 to play.

With UMSL leading 59-58 at the 4:39 mark, Bolt sank two free throws that put Lewis back in front for good and ignited a 16-4 flurry to end the game. Six Flyers scored during the run, with Dagans' seven points leading the way.

Lewis, which won for the first time on the road this season, shot 60 percent from the floor in the second half after managing just 30 percent in the opening period. The Flyers suffered just nine turnovers while forcing 18 Rivermen miscues.

UMSL's Brett Ledbetter led all scorers with 25 points but was limited to seven in the second half when the Rivermen shot just 39 percent. Troy Slaten netted 18 points.

Lewis plays at Missouri-Rolla Saturday afternoon.