Lewis knocks off No. 9 Southern Indiana

ROMEOVILLE – The streak is over.

The Lewis men’s basketball team had not beaten Southern Indiana in the last decade at Neil Carey Area. The past two seasons, the Flyers dropped one- and two-point decisions.

But the agony ended Thursday when Lewis, ranked No. 19 in NCAA Division II, outscored Southern Indiana, 47-36, in the second half en route to a 73-63 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory.

“This was big. We prepared hard for two days for these guys,” said Lewis sophomore big man Kyle Nelson, who had what coach Scott Trost termed “probably his best game.”

Nelson had to battle Southern Indiana’s heavyweight post man, Aaron Nelson, and with the help of David Niggins off the bench, more than held his own.

Kyle Nelson scored 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. He stepped out and hit three 15-foot jumpers in the second half. Aaron Nelson, who came in averaging 18 points, settled for 14 and six boards.

“Kyle’s been struggling confidence-wise,” Trost said. “[Thursday], he stepped up and made shots. I thought he was really good.”

Lewis (14-2, 6-2) struggled offensively early and shot only 37.5 percent in the first half, which ended with the Screaming Eagles (14-2, 6-2) leading, 28-26.

But the Flyers were torrid in the second half, shooting 53.3 percent to finish at .452.

“Their size made us a little tentative at the rim at first,” Trost said. “We made good decisions, got good shots and knocked them down in the second half.”

Ryan Jackson scored 15 of his game-high 20 points in the second half for Lewis. Jeff Jarosz, who kept things close with his penetration in the first half, scored 15 and Julian Lewis added 12 to go with eight rebounds.

In addition, the Flyers finished with an unheard-of two turnovers – give plenty of credit to Jarosz – while forcing Southern Indiana into 14.

“We got punched in the face,” Jackson said of Southern Indiana jumping to a 7-0 lead. “Jarosz has been big all year, and he was tonight. It was team effort.”

Jackson also cited Kyle Nelson’s work inside.

“Kyle played a heck of a game,” he said. “I am very proud of him.”

Niggins, who swears he called “bank” on the 3-pointer he banked home in the second half, said that going against Aaron Nelson is no picnic.

“He is a big boy,” he said. “I think we made a statement with this one.”

Southern Indiana, which ended Lewis’ season in the GLVC Tournament a year ago, received 13 points from Lawrence Thomas and 11 from Gavin Schuman.

Lewis will face Bellarmine at 3 p.m. Saturday in a GLVC contest.