Lewis' death stuns USI

MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press USI senior Jamar Smith looks for a way around Kentucky Wesleyan College junior Jay Ivey (44) and junior Marico Stinson (25) during their game in Owensboro on Thursday night.
OWENSBORO, Ky. — Grabbing the public address microphone as time expired, University of Southern Indiana men's basketball coach Rodney Watson addressed the fans at the Sportscenter in Owensboro.

"I would greatly appreciate it if you gave Jeron Lewis a prayer because he's going to need it," Watson said immediately after the conclusion of his team's game against Kentucky Wesleyan College.

Twenty minutes later, senior center Jeron Lewis was pronounced dead at Owensboro Medical Health Systems.


MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press USI senior, Jeron Lewis (40), shoots for two against Kentucky Wesleyan College at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky., on Thursday.

MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press Kentucky Wesleyan junior, Marico Stinson (25), tries to block a shot by USI senior, Marvin Gray (10), during the game at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky., on Thursday, January 14, 2010.

MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press USI senior, Jeron Lewis (40), drives to the basket against Kentucky Wesleyan junior, Chris Williams (33), at the Owensboro SportsCenter in Owensboro, Ky., on Thursday.
With 4:32 remaining in the game, play had been stopped as Lewis lay on the floor.

"None of us saw it," Watson said later. "I was told he hit his head."

Trainers for Kentucky Wesleyan and USI head trainer David Maldonado quickly responded to Lewis, who appeared to be unconscious before shaking involuntarily. He was taken away by ambulance and the game resumed after a delay of more than 15 minutes.

The No. 5 Eagles went on to win 74-69 after a Nick Duncheon 3-pointer with 38 seconds left extended a two-point lead to the final margin.

"I really wasn't thinking about the shot to be honest," Duncheon said. "I had Jeron on my mind.

"I was ready to get the game over and go see him."

Before Duncheon and the rest of the Eagles could, however, they learned of Lewis' death.

Holing up in the visitors locker room, the team spent an emotional 20 minutes while USI officials attempted to notify Lewis' family.

A native of Fort Wayne, Lewis was that city's high school player of the year. He went on to play at two different junior colleges before joining the Eagles. He lost more than 40 pounds coming into this season and started every game but two this year, which he missed when he became a father for the first time in December.

He credited that event with helping him gain a greater perspective on life, he said at the time.

As his teammates, overcome with emotion, boarded their team vans to return to campus, they were left to deal with his death.

“He’s our motivator,” Duncheon had said about Lewis before learning the news. “He’s the guy that always has something to say to help us in a tough spot.”

Jay Ivey, a junior for the No. 10 Panthers who was on the bench and a few feet from where Lewis went down, said, “I didn’t really know what was going on or see how he went down. He was shaking.

“But you could just tell what kind of guy he was from the way he carried himself. He gave it his all.”

And it was all fellow USI senior Brandon Carr could do to make it to one of those vans, with assistant coach Derrick Tilmon holding him up.

“Everybody is just trying to wrap their minds around this,” sports information director Ray Simmons said later, adding that a decision on Saturday’s game against Quincy scheduled for the PAC Arena would likely be made today.

In the meantime, the Eagles were left reeling from a game on Thursday rendered meaningless in the bigger picture.

“There’s no victory tonight,” Watson said.

“With this Jeron Lewis situation, it’s not about basketball.”