Post Play Lifts Lewis Men’s Basketball To 88-77 Win Over IU-Northwest

Robinson and Strus combine for 31 points and 12 rebounds on 14-for-15 shooting.

Romeoville, Ill. – Lewis University senior guard Dennis Thomas, Jr. (Milwaukee, Wis./Bradley Tech) may have led the Flyers in scoring with 23 points on Tuesday (Dec. 7) night against IU-Northwest, but it was post players Jerome Robinson (Skokie, Ill./St. Patrick/Morton College) and Marty Strus (Hickory Hills, Ill./Stagg) that did the dirty work.
  
Robinson and Strus combined for 31 points on 14-for-15 shooting and 12 rebounds (9 offensive) in the Flyers’ 88-77 non-conference win over the visiting Red Hawks at Neil Carey Arena.
  
Robinson was a perfect 8-for-8 from the field and finished with 18 points and six rebounds, including four offensive caroms, while Strus collected 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting and added six rebounds, including five offensive boards in the win. Lewis junior point guard Chris McClellan (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Wheeling) posted 13 points and recorded three trifectas for the third-straight game.
  
“Give IU-Northwest some credit, I thought they were scrappy and never quit,” Lewis head men’s basketball coach Scott Trost said. “I thought there were some positive things offensively. I thought Dennis Thomas, Jerome Robinson and Marty Strus all did a lot of good things tonight.
  
“It’s a win, but we just need to keep getting better day-by-day.”
  
With the win, Lewis improves to 5-5 on the campaign, while the Red Hawks are now 1-11 on the season.
  
The play down low was the difference in the ball game, as the Flyers outrebounded IU-Northwest, 37-20, and had a total of 19 offensive caroms. As a team, Lewis outscored IU-Northwest in the paint, 54-26.
  
Over the first 15 minutes of the game, the visiting Red Hawks kept pace with the Flyers and even held a 27-26 lead over Lewis with six minutes left in the contest. Lewis, however, went on a 14-4 run, led by six points from Thomas, to give the Flyers’ the lead for good with a 41-31 advantage at the intermission.
  
IU-Northwest was led offensively by senior forward Carl Hampton, Jr., who posted 21 points, including five three-pointers. The Red Hawks also received double-digit performances from Keith Dean (15 points), Jeremy Comer (14 points) and Justin Latimore (13 points).
  
Lewis returns to action on Saturday (Dec. 11) night, as they welcome local rival, St. Francis (Ill.) to Neil Carey Arena for a 7:30 p.m. (CST) tip-off.