TRUMAN:Lewis tearing it up in the MAAC

Tyrone Lewis (R) had a school record 85 steals this season.

Tyrone hitting his shots for the Purple Eagles

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

When Harry S Truman basketball standout Tyrone Lewis donned the black and gold for the Tigers, he was one of the best in Bucks County.
Things are no different now that Tyrone is playing for Niagara University’s Purple Eagles.
This season, one of the best ever at Niagara, Lewis ranked third in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) with 16.3 points-per-game. Tyrone led the conference with 86 three-pointers.
Lewis opened the season by blocking eight jump shots against Towson and recorded at least three steals in 16 games. The 5-foot-11 junior guard led the Eagles in scoring 12 times while tallying double figures in 28 of the team's 31 games.
For the season, Tyrone was tops in the conference while ranking fourth in the nation with 85 steals. He ranked second on the team with 27 blocks, adding 4.6 rebounds per game to his season effort.
What’s more, the effort of the Truman graduate can be seen in the win-loss column. Niagara’s regular season record of 24-7 is the best since John ‘Taps’ Gallagher’s 1948-49 team recorded the same record.
The 24 wins is the second most in school history, behind the 1921-22 team’s 27 victories. Niagara’s 14-4 record in MAAC play is the best in program history.
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Niagara celebrated Senior Day in style March 1 with an 80-72 victory over Marist. The victory gave the Purple Eagles a 24-7 overall record, the best regular season mark in 60 years.
"We are ready for the second season," Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said, referring to the MAAC Tournament, where his Purple Eagles have earned the No. 2 seed. "We are proud of what we have accomplished this season; 24-7 is very special. But we broke our huddle in the locker room talking about getting ready for the second season."
On Senior Day, the Red Foxes had no answer for Niagara's lone senior, Nigerian native Benson Egemonye, a 6-foot-10 guard from Benin City. The big man bid farewell to the Gallagher Center crowd of 2,182 with a team-high 19 points. Most of his damage came from the foul line as Egemonye shot 13-for-17 from the charity stripe.
Niagara fell behind early in the contest but used a 15-0 run midway through the first period, keyed by seven straight points by Anthony Nelson to seize control of the contest. The Eagles led by as many as 19 points in the second half.
Nelson connected on a triple to bring the Eagles to within two with five minutes remaining in the opening stanza. He buried an open jumper on the next trip and executed a tough lay-up in transition to take a 26-24 lead. Niagara would extend the advantage to 33-24 before Marist could end the run. Nelson finished the game with eight points, six assists and five rebounds.
Three other players finished the day in double figures as the Purple Eagles again executed a balanced attack. The junior trio of Lewis, Bilal Benn and Rob Garrison chipped in with 16, 12 and 17 points, respectively, in the win. Benn added a game-high nine rebounds to finish with the rebounding title, averaging a MAAC-best 9.1 rpg.
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Lewis, Benn Earn Postseason Praise

The postseason accolades continue to mount for the Purple Eagles with Lewis garnering NABC All-District and All-MAAC honors. On Wednesday, March 4, Lewis, of Bristol Township, Levittown, and Bilal Benn of Philadelphia, were named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District Team.
Both players were named to the District I Second Team. Lewis and Benn, who were named First-Team All-MAAC on March 2, are up for MAAC Player of the Year and MAAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Benn led the conference in rebounding with 9.1 rpg while ranking second in steals with 76. The Philly native led the MAAC with 11 double-doubles and ranked in the top 10 in eight statistical categories. Benn finished the regular season with 14.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 87 assists and 78 steals while shooting .448 from the floor, .324 from behind the arc and .713 from the charity stripe.
Niagara matched last season's win total on Feb. 8 with a 75-50 win over Fairfield. The Eagles forced 21 turnovers in the win and shot a blistering 65.2 percent from the floor in the second half.
Niagara's defense, which has been the story all season long, held Fairfield to 50 points on 34.5 percent shooting. The 21 turnovers by the Stags was a season-high for Fairfield.
"I may sound like a broken record," Head Coach Joe Mihalich said, "but we always say that defense wins championships. Our defense was real good today."
The Purple Eagles tied a season high with 16 steals, led by Benn's four and Lewis' three. Niagara totaled double-digit steals in its previous five games, all wins, averaging 13 thefts during that span.
"No disrespect to anyone else in the league," Mihalich added, "but I don't know if there are two better defensive players in the league than Tyrone and Bilal."
Both players joined senior Benson Egemonye on the All-MAAC Team. Benn and Lewis earned First-Team All-MAAC honors while Nigerian native Egemonye was named to the All-MAAC Second Team. It was the first all-conference honor for Benn and Egemonye, and the second for Lewis, who earned Second-Team All-MAAC last season.
Lewis, Benn and the rest of the Purple Eagles begin the MAAC Championships 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7 against the winner of the Iona/Marist game that takes place Friday.
The Purple Eagles split the regular season series with both clubs.

Lavoy leads by example

Morrisville native posts his
best game in Owls' fifth straight win

By Steve Sherman
Sports Editor

Yesterday at the Liacouras Center, they gave out Dionte Christmas bobbleheads to the first 3,000 fans who showed up for the Temple Owls’ battle with St. Bonaventure.
A Lavoy Allen figurine might have been more appropriate however, given the game that the Pennsbury High School alum posted in the Owls’ win over the Bonnies.
Allen posted up with, statistically, his best game of the season when he tallied 20 points, 18 rebounds and four assists in Temple’s 70-56 win over St. Bonaventure. He compiled 13 of those points and 14 rebounds before the halftime buzzer to help the Owls to a 38-26 lead at the break.
A sophomore starter for Temple, Allen leads the Owls in terms of rebounding and blocked shots.
“He is just astounding in terms of knowing where he has to be and getting himself in position to either get the rebound or defend the basket,” commented Pennsbury head coach Frank Sciolla before the start of the Feb. 22 battle.
“One of the criticisms on Lavoy is that he isn’t aggressive enough with the ball.
“Coach [Fran] Dunphy feels there’s times when he needs to take the ball to the basket instead of looking to dish it off to a teammate.”
Allen brushed all that aside yesterday, dominating the game in the first half.
His first bucket--a turnaround hook from down low in the post--put the Owls up 11-6 early. His second came on a break, a layup made off a bounce pass from freshman Juan Fernandez that put Temple up 21-10.
The fourth was a putback of a missed jump shot by Fernandez and his fifth field goal was an allyoop made off a feed from Fernandez. Fouled on the putback basket, Lavoy made the and-one, extending the Owls lead even further.
In between, Lavoy came up with a steal deep inside the defensive end, finding Christmas streaking down the court on a break. He also connected with sophomore Craig Williams on an allyoop basket, made three of his five free throws while outpacing the Bonnies 14-13 in rebounds tallied before the half.
The Morrisville native was on his way to becoming the first to have 20 or more boards Owl since Joe Newman grabbed 24 rebounds against Drexel in 1973, but fell off the pace in the second half.
Allen still broke the building record of 17, previously held by Temple's Keith Butler (March 3, 2004 vs. Massachusetts) and Saint Joseph's Harold Rasul (February 17, 1998).
Allen finished his game shooting a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor. It was his 10th double-double of the season and the Owls’ fifth consecutive win, a streak that started Feb. 8 with a 68-62 triumph over Rhode Island and a narrow victory over St. Joe’s.
"He was tremendous," head coach Fran Dunphy said, referring to Allen. "As we get into the latter stage of this season, I hope he is paying attention to how good he can be and how good our team can be. He absolutely needs to be one of the leaders."
Last season, Temple defeated St. Joe’s 69-64 in Atlantic City to capture the Atlantic 10 Tournament championship. With that win, the Owls secured their first NCAA tournament berth and a No. 12 seed in the South Region.
But Temple never got past the fifth-seeded Spartans, falling 72-61 March 2008 at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
Allen believes the A-10 title--and more--is right there for the Owls’ taking.
Could a Sweet 16 appearance--or better, an Elite 8 showing, perhaps--be in the cards for Temple this season?
“The way we’re playing right now, anything is possible,” said Allen. “Right now, it seems nobody can stop us so I think that maybe there are some teams out there who wouldn’t want to play us.”
The last time the Owls made it into the latter rounds of the NCAA tournament was 2001 when former skipper John Chayney took the cherry and white to an Elite 8 appearance.
Ironically, it was Michigan State who ousted Temple from the tournament that year. The Owls have made five Elite 8 appearances in the program’s history.

COUNCIL ROCK NORTH BASKETBALL:Foster helps Mules in playoff push

Junior Ryan Foster is helping the Muhlenberg College men’s basketball team in its push to the playoffs.

A Council Rock High School North alum from Newtown, Ryan leads the Mules with 38 three-pointers and an .830 free-throw percentage.

Foster is also third on the team in scoring (11.5 points-per-game), rebounding (6.0 per-game), assists (36) and blocked shots (9).

Foster recently scored a career-high 25 points in Muhlenberg’s 73-65 win at Swarthmore and recorded a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) in a 62-58 win against regionally ranked Gettysburg, a Division III Sweet 16 team last year.

With two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Mules are alone in fourth place in the Centennial Conference with an 8-6 league mark. They are 12-8 overall, their most wins in three seasons.

-Sports Editor Steve Sherman