Joel Jaye scored a career-high 28 points as SIU Edwardsville knocked off the 14th-ranked Lewis Flyers 78-76 Saturday at the Vadalabene Center in the final regular-seasoncontest for both teams.
         With the win, SIUE (16-11, 11-9 Great Lakes Valley Conference) claims the fifth-seed in the upcoming GLVC Tournament. It will face fourth-seeded Indianapolis Friday at noon. Lewis (22-5, 16-4 GLVC) had already claimed the Great Lakes Valley Conferene regular-season crown and will enter the conference tournament as the first seed.
         Both teams traded buckets for the first ten minutes of the contest before Dan Heimos' dunk at the 10:18 mark of the first half gave the Cougars a 24-18 advantage. Two three-point field goals by Jaye and one by Ron Jones stretched the SIUE lead to 14 at the break.
         But Lewis, ranked 14th nationally in NCAA-II, rallied in the second half and briefly held the lead with eight minutes to go in the contest. Jaye hit one of his six three-pointers to give the Cougars a 59-57 lead with 8:36 remaining. The Flyers never again claimed the lead, but kept it interesting.
         Jaye's dunk in the final minute of play gave the Cougars a 77-74 lead. But Lewis' Demitrius Butler, playing the majority of the second half with four fouls, cut the Cougar lead to one. Calvin Sykes hit a free throw with 12 seconds remaining to give SIUE a 78-76 lead.
         Lewis' Randy Wright had an open look with two seconds left, but the shot bounced off the rim as time expired.
         Jaye hit 11 of 15 from the field and was 6 of 8 from three-point range. He also pulled down four boards.
         As a team, SIUE shot 68.2 percent from the field, which included a 75-percent shooting performance in the first half. Sykes chipped in 16 points for the Cougars and Jones added 11.
         It was the final home game for SIUE seniors Jones and Corey Bradford.
         -siue cougars-