Nov. 27, 2009

Men's Basketball: Lewis at St. Francis (Ill.) Game Notes in PDF Format

Romeoville, Ill. - The Lewis University men's basketball team heads to neighboring Joliet on Saturday (Nov. 28) night, as the Flyers (3-1) square off with local rival, St. Francis (Ill.) (1-7) for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at USF's Recreation Center.

Saturday's game will be broadcast on WJOL (1340 AM) and can be found on LewisFlyers.com with Mark Vasko providing the play-by-play for the Lewis Sports Network.

Head Coaches: Lewis head men's basketball coach Scott Trost enters his fourth season at the helm of the Flyers and has a record of 54-37 (.593). In 13 seasons of coaching, Trost owns a mark of 207-123 (.627). St. Francis (Ill.) head coach Pat Sullivan is in his 34th season as the Saints' skipper and owns a record of 499-491 as a head coach.

All-Time Series: Lewis holds a 26-8 advantage over St. Francis (Ill.) in their all-time series.

Last Time We Met: Lewis scored 33 points off of 20 Saints turnovers on their way to the 89-44 victory over St. Francis (Ill.) on November 29, 2008. Lewis guard Brandon Dagans led all scorers with 15 points on the evening.

Last Time Out: Lewis junior guard Dennis Thomas was 11-for-15 from the field, including a career-high six three pointers to finish with 29 points and helping the host Flyers to the 77-63 non-conference win over Hillsdale on Tuesday (Nov. 24) night.

Charity Stripe: Lewis knocked down an impressive 82.9% (29-for-35) of their free throw shots in the Flyers' win over Upper Iowa on Nov. 21st. The 29 free throws were the most by a Flyer squad since March 8, 2008, when they matched that number in an 86-75 win over Saint Joseph's.

Charity Stripe (Part Deux): Thomas' 17 made free throws against Upper Iowa was the most by a Flyer player since Milosh Pujo converted all 20 of his attempts against Mount St. Clare on December 30, 1997.

Bench Play: Freshmen Troy Peter and David Bryant have each come off the bench this season and scored 17 points in a Flyer victory. The last Flyer reserve to score at least that many points was an 18-point performance from Keelan Donald in a 70-69 loss to UW-Parkside on February 20, 2007.

MASH Unit: Lewis' top returning rebounder, junior forward Lonnie Lawrence (6.3 rpg.) will miss the 2009-10 campaign after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament during preseason practice.

Good Genes: Sophomore forward Matt Toth chose a different athletic path than his father Tom. Tom Toth played five years in the National Football League, including starting 12 games at right guard for Dan Marino and the Miami Dolphins in 1987.

Keeping It In The Family: Bryant is the second member of his family to play for Trost, as his brother Kevin played for him at Illinois Wesleyan from 2004-06. Kevin tragically passed away in a whitewater rafting accident in 2008.

Streaky Shooting: Lewis has shot at least 50.0% from the field in their last three contests. During that span, the Flyers are shooting 52.2% (71-for-136) from the floor.

Land of Lincoln: Trost is 11-4 (.733) against opponents from the state of Illinois as the Flyers' head coach.

Local Legend: Lewis' all-time leader in basketball coaching wins, Gordon Gillespie (220 victories) is in his 24th season as St. Francis' baseball coach. Gillespie coached the Flyers from 1951 to 1965.