Box Score
After it seemed like Lewis had successfully held No. 3 Kentucky Wesleyan at bay, the Panthers turned on the afterburners.
Still, KWC (14-2, 6-2 Great Lakes Valley Conference) ran out of gas and fell to Lewis, 75-71, on the road.
Trailing by nine with 1:47 left, KWC turned up the defensive intensity and cut the lead to 72-69.
But Lewis (11-5, 5-3 GLVC) was able to seal the game at the line to pull off the upset.
"We kept battling and guys did a good job of not giving up," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "We made some plays at the end. We missed some free throws and that hurt us down the stretch. But we had some opportunities, and I was proud of the way the guys kept battling."
The Panthers scored four straight points off two steals, then
Rico Ferguson stole another pass and was fouled. His two free throws cut the lead to three.
Lewis's David Bryant, who finished with a game-high 19 points, hit one-of-two free throws to put the Flyers up 73-69. Ferguson missed two free throws, then missed a jumper after KWC caught a break with a foul by Lewis on the other end.
Bryant hit two more free throws with 11 seconds left to seal the game.
KWC trailed by as many as 11 with five minutes left and never held a lead aside from a two-point lead 1:14 into the game.
The Panthers were in the game thanks to a 30-22 advantage in the paint, a 17-5 advantage on second chance points and a 29-13 advantage on bench points.
But it was the free throws that did them in.
KWC finished 12-of-21 at the free throw line, while Lewis made 19-of-23. The Panthers went cold in general in the second half, shooting 12-of-27 (44.4 percent) from the field including 1-of-6 from 3-point range.
Lewis's leading scorer Ryan Jackson (17.9 points per game) was held to just nine points, but other players stepped up in his absence.
Julian Lewis (8.2 ppg) scored 14 points and grabbed six rebounds and Kyle Nelson (7.6 ppg) scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Bryant averages 11.1 points per game.
"Julian Lewis, who is a good player, had 14 points in the first half and Kyle Nelson, who's a freshman, really took it to our post players," Lee said. "He outplayed (
Dominique Dawson) and (
Dazmond Starke) at times on the offensive end and worked hard in there. For him to get 13 and six, and Lewis to get 14 and six, they don't average anywhere near that. They outplayed us inside."
