The Lewis University men’s basketball team was unable to overcome slow starts in both the first and second halves, as the Flyers dropped a 70-59 non-conference decision to UC-San Diego in the opening day of the Disney Division II West Coast Tip-Off Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center on Friday (Nov. 12) afternoon.
This marks the first time that Lewis has lost a season-opening contest in 10 years, as the Flyers were defeated by DePaul, 87-80, on November 17, 2000.
“It was just a bad performance all around,” Lewis head men’s basketball coach Scott Trost said. “It was disappointing…we played with no energy, no enthusiasm and just didn’t play hard.
“We were beat by the better team tonight,” Trost continued. “They beat us in all facets of the game.”
With the win, UC-San Diego improves to 1-0 on the season, while the Flyers are 0-1 on the campaign.
UCSD jumped out to an early 22-9 lead over Lewis with 8:36 left in the first half, before the Flyers, behind three trifectas from junior guard David Luster (South Holland, Ill./Seton Academy/Johnson County C.C.) rallied to narrow the deficit to 31-30 heading into the intermission.
Coming out of the break, the Tritons got off to another blazing start as they used a 23-11 run, behind six points apiece from Christian Hatch (16 points) and Casey Ryan (11 points), to build a 54-41 lead that they would never relinquish.
UC-San Diego enjoyed a decisive advantage on the glass, as the Tritons recorded 36 rebounds (14 offensive) to Lewis’ 21 total caroms. UCSD was able to get to the line as well, as they converted 22-for-27 of their free throw attempts, while the Flyers made just 3-for-7.
Luster and guards Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) and Dennis Thomas, Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) led the Flyers in scoring with 11 points. McClellan added five steals on the defensive end.
Lewis returns to action on Saturday (Nov. 13) night, as the Flyers face Alaska-Anchorage in second day tournament action with tip-off set for 9:30 p.m. (CST).
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