Feb. 2, 2008

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Needing a win in a big way, the Flyers received a game-high 27 points from junior Jason Genova, 19 from junior Brandon Dagans and 15 from freshman Dennis Thomas, Jr. in a 77-67 road victory over Bellarmine, Saturday afternoon in a crucial Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division game.

The Flyers (14-5, 7-4) snapped a two-game losing streak and remained just two games in back of first-place Northern Kentucky in the loss column with nine conference games to play.

After four consecutive games of failing to reach his season scoring average, Genova came out on fire against the Knights. He nailed his first six shots from the field, including three from downtown to help stake the Flyers to an early 13-point lead.

Unfortunately for the Flyers, Bellarmine battled back. After trailing by 13, the Knights outscored Lewis 21-8 the rest of the half, and the teams headed to intermission tied 30-30.

The first five minutes of the second half saw the teams exchange the lead five times, before Dagans and Thomas, Jr. joined Genova in leading the offense.

Dagans tied the game at 43-43 with free throws at 15:07 and then put Lewis ahead with a 3-pointer on the next possession. The momentum led to a 15-5 Lewis run, allowing the Flyers to open an eight-point lead with 10:18 to play. Dagans scored eight points during the push, and Thomas, Jr. had five. The Flyers never trailed again.

Dagans totaled 17 of his 19 points in the second half, while Thomas Jr. registered 13 of his 15 after halftime. Genova added 12 points to his 15 from the first half. The trio accounted for 42 of Lewis' 47 second-half points as the Flyers shot at a 64.3 percent clip in period two.

The Knights got to within four points three more times before the final buzzer, but each time Lewis had an answer. Thomas Jr. hit a trey at 8:17 after Bellarmine closed to within four points. Genova scored a lay-up at 6:33 to push Lewis' lead back to six, and hit a jumper with 4:10 to play after the hosts cut Lewis' lead to four for a final time.

Genova finished 11-for-16 from the field, hitting 5-for-8 beyond the arc. Dagans was 6-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-7 at the line. He also added six assists and set a career high with six steals. Thomas Jr. was 6-for-12 from the field, including 5-for-7 in the second half. He added five assists, including feeds to senior Stephan Bolt and Genova for dunks in the game's final two minutes.

Bolt was limited to four points and four rebounds, but his dunk with 1:44 remaining made him the 33rd player in program history to score 1,000 points during their career. Bolt now needs 32 rebounds to become just the third player of Lewis' Division II era to have career totals of 1,000 points and 700 rebounds.

The Flyers return to action on Feb. 7, hosting SIU Edwardsville at 7:45 p.m.