After leading by as many as 18 in the first half and owning a 44-31 halftime lead, Lewis outscored UMSL 25-10 in the first 12 minutes of the second half and took a 56-54 lead with 7:43 to play on a pair of Marty Strus free throws. A Strus basket then made it 58-54 before back-to-back lay-ups by juniors Justyn Watkins and Zach Redel knotted it at 58-58 with just under five minutes to play.
A pair of Watkins free throws later gave UMSL a 66-64 lead with 1:51 on the clock, but Lewis’s Dennis Thomas Jr. tied it with a short jumper at the 51 second mark. Junior Gerald Fulton drove the lane on the ensuing possession, but knocked the ball out of bounds, giving it back to Lewis. The Flyers’ Jeron Lee then missed a three-pointer from the left wing with six seconds to play and Williams grabbed the rebound before netting the game winner and his third long ball of the contest.
It was the fourth straight win for the Tritons, who improve to 5-1 overall. UMSL also moves to 2-0 in the GLVC, marking the first time in program history that UMSL has opened the GLVC slate with two wins.
Lewis falls to 4-5 and 1-1 in the league.
Junior Gerald Fulton finished with a game-high 21 points, all of which came in the first half, while Watkins added 19 points.
After shooting 59.3 percent from the floor in the first half, the Tritons cooled off in the second half, connecting at a 37.5 percent clip, and finished game shooting 49 percent.
Lewis shot 48.1 percent and owned a 34-20 rebounding advantage, including a 12-5 edge on the offensive end.
Junior Justin Hightower finished with seven assists and four steals, while junior Zach Redel tallied 11 points, four rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals.
UMSL returns to action next Saturday, hosting Robert Morris-Springfield in a 5 p.m. non-conference contest.
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