Flyers deal Panthers costly loss - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

When an epilogue of the 2010-11 basketball season is written, Lewis University might very well prove to be the fly in the ointment with regard to Kentucky Wesleyan College's NCAA Division II Tournament aspirations.

The Flyers, smoking hot from the field in the second half, upset the No. 24 Panthers before an estimated 2,300 fans at the Sportscenter on Saturday afternoon -- an unexpected and costly defeat for KWC, which plays five of its final six Great Lakes Valley Conference games on the road.

"We didn't defend well at all in the second half," said Wesleyan head coach Todd Lee, whose team was victimized by 65 percent accuracy from the Flyers (20-of-31) over the final 20 minutes. "We got outrebounded, too, so we've got to continue to improve in that area, as well."

Most striking of all, perhaps, was that Lewis dominated the Panthers by a 26-2 margin in bench scoring -- led by sweet-shooting left-hander Justin Jarosz, who scored 22 points and drained 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range.

"That's been pretty consistent all year," Lee said. "We need more production off the bench. It's tough to win close games when you get outscored off the bench like we did today."

It was, in fact, a 3-pointer by Jarosz from the right wing with 50 seconds to play that pushed Lewis in front 80-75.

KWC (14-5, 7-5 GLVC) twice trimmed its deficit to a point on driving layups by Cardell McFarland, but the Flyers (13-10, 6-6) responded each time with free throws. Guards Dennis Thomas and Chris McClellan combined to go 6-of-6 from the foul stripe over the final 20 seconds to seal it.

Thomas played a big role in the victory for Lewis, finishing with a game-best 27 points. He was 0-of-5 from 3-point range, but made up for it by making all 11 of his free-throw attempts.

"Thomas didn't hurt us on 3s, but we just couldn't keep him out of the lane," Lee said. "He did a lot of damage for them in the lane."

Another discrepancy came from beyond the 3-point arc, where the Flyers were 8-of-19 (42 percent) and the Panthers were only 4-of-20 (20 percent).

"We didn't shoot 3s well in this one," Lee said. "I think we got a lot of good looks, I don't remember too many bad shots taken, but they just didn't go down for us."

In addition to the production provided by Thomas and Jarosz, the Flyers got 19 points from McClellan, 10 points from Matt Toth, and a team-best eight rebounds and six rebounds from Lonnie Lawrence, another key substitute.

Wesleyan was paced by McFarland's 26 points and four assists. Anthony Young produced 22 points and a game-best 11 rebounds, Marseilles Stewart scored 15 points, and Kwan Waller tossed in 12.

It was a closely contested game throughout, with the biggest lead by either team being eight points (KWC led 12-4 at 15:15 of the first half).

Now, the Panthers prepare for a road game on Thursday at Missouri-St. Louis, one of the GLVC's most improved teams.

"Our schedule is tough down the stretch," Lee said. "We've got to do a good job of winning on the road, which is very difficult to do in this league.

"I have confidence that our guys can go on the road and get the job done."

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