ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - Points were at a premium as both teams played tenacious defense, but Lewis ended up holding off the Lincoln men's basketball team, 56-47, on Saturday (Dec. 6).

The Blue Tigers were held to uncharacteristically low field goal percentages of .283 overall and .154 from three-point range, and Lincoln (4-4, 1-3 GLVC) made only four treys during the contest. The Blue Tigers kept Lewis (1-6, 1-2 GLVC) in check for most of the afternoon, as the Flyers shot just .344 from the floor and .217 from long distance. 

The two teams traded leads for most of the first half, with a jumper by Enari Thomas knotting the score at 22 with 3:04 left in the half. Lewis responded with a three, one of just five on the afternoon for the Flyers, but Solomon Oraegbu made a pair of free throws to get the Blue Tigers back within one. In the closing seconds, Lewis hit a jumper to take a 27-24 lead into halftime.

The Blue Tigers rallied back to briefly take a 30-29 lead just over a minute into the second half, but an 11-0 run gave Lewis command of the game. Lincoln was able to pull back within three several times, including on a Max Ekono jumper with 1:55 remaining, but the Flyers made free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Oraegbu finished with 10 points, six rebounds, a steal, a block and an assist. Thomas added eight points and a board while Ekono ended the afternoon with six points, a team-high seven rebounds, a block and a steal. Malcolm Davis led LU with three assists and tallied eight points, three boards and a steal.

Robin Discamps was Lincoln's second-leading scorer, as he had nine points, three rebounds, a steal and a block. Tyler Lucas added four points, a pair of rebounds and an assist to the Lincoln effort while Amar Kadic rounded out the scoring with two points and five boards. D'Necco Rucker came off the bench to pull down three rebounds.

The Blue Tigers will be back in the friendly confines of Jason Gym on Thursday (Dec. 11) to host Haskell at 12:00 p.m. CST.