Lewis boxscore in PDF

Romeoville, Ill. - The Maryville men's basketball team was hunting for its first Great Lakes Valley Conference road win of the season but Lewis shot 51.9 percent from the field to defeat the Saints 84-65 Saturday afternoon at Neil Carey Arena in Romeoville, Ill.

Anthony Johnson's 3-pointer gave the Saints the lead in the first minute of the contest. His jumper was good for a 7-6 lead before the Flyers scored four-in-a-row. Marvin Grant-Clark, playing near his hometown, drained a triple to forge a 10-10 tie after six minutes. Lewis eased to a five-point margin as the Saints were unable to find the range. Grant-Clark finished in the lane to trim the deficit to 15-12. Maryville was down 24-14 but Jeff Leeson splashed in consecutive 3-pointers to pull the Saints to 24-20. The teams traded baskets, and Johnson found the range to keep the Saints at 26-22. Leeson added another bucket in the last minute before the Flyers scored in the waning seconds and pushed their edge to 41-32 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Lewis built a double-digit lead at 47-37. Ben Volkman scored off a feed from Johnson that sparked a 7-0 burst for the Saints. Forrester Sims found the range from deep, and Grant Sims sank two at the free-throw line to pull Maryville to 47-44 at the 15:24 mark. The Flyers answered with 11 straight points to take a 58-44 lead. Volkman made one free throw to end the Lewis run, and Johnson knocked down a jumper. Leeson scored on a layup to draw the Saints to 58-49 with just over nine minutes remaining.

The Saints embarked on their final charge and cut the Lewis lead down to 63-56 at the 6:36 mark. After two Volkman free throws, Grant-Clark followed with two more at the line and his 3-pointer pulled Maryville to 63-56. The Flyers regrouped with a 10-2 and took control of the game in the final minutes.

Johnson paced the Saints with 16 points and six rebounds. Leeson scored 13, while Grant-Clark added 12 points. Forrester Sims led Maryville (7-12 overall, 1-6 GLVC) with seven rebounds. Miles Simelton kept the Flyers undefeated in league play with 23 points as Lewis improved to 11-5 overall, 6-0 in the GLVC.

The Saints return home to Moloney Arena Thursday, Jan. 19, as they host Truman State at 7:30 p.m. on Social Media Night.