NKU’s Gavin Ludgood against Xavier

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will begin the regular season Friday at 7:45 p.m. against Findlay in the John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic in Regents Hall.

Findlay (30-4 record last season) is ranked sixth nationally in the Division II Bulletin preseason poll, and the Oilers advanced to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last March.

NKU will also meet Saginaw Valley State at 7:45 p.m. Saturday in the final game of the John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic. Both NKU games will be broadcast live on WIOK (107.5 FM) and can also be heard on the Internet at www.nku.edu/~athletics.

Christian Brothers, the fourth team in the event, will meet Saginaw Valley State at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 18 and Findlay at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 19.

RUGGED PRESEASON: NKU tuned up for the season with two exhibition games against local Division I opponents Xavier and Cincinnati. On Nov. 5, Xavier posted a 78-44 win over NKU at the Cintas Center. On Nov. 12, the Norse dropped a 96-60 decision at Cincinnati.

TORRID SHOOTING: Last Saturday night, Cincinnati shot 66.7 percent from the field - including 76 percent in the second half - and cruised to its win over NKU. The Bearcats also used 10-for-20 shooting from 3-point range and a 33-26 rebounding advantage to knock off NKU for the fifth consecutive year in their annual exhibition contest in front of a crowd of 6,937 at the Fifth Third Arena at Shoemaker Center.

Eric Hicks led Cincinnati with 18 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. Hicks, a 6-foot-6 senior post player, netted 13 points in the second half.

In the first exhibition game on Nov. 5, Brian Thornton scored 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field as Xavier defeated NKU. Stanley Burrell added 13 points and six assists for Xavier, which shot 57.1 percent from the field. The taller Musketeers won the rebounding battle by a 43-30 margin and held NKU to 26.3 percent shooting from the field.

NKU’s Vincent Humphrey (5)

LUDGOOD REAL GOOD: Senior center Gavin Ludgood scored 14 points to lead NKU against Cincinnati. Ludgood, a 6-8, 235-pound transfer from Division I Florida Atlantic and former prep standout in Arkansas, scored nine points in the first half against the Bearcats.

REINHARDT SHINES: Junior forward Kevin Reinhardt added 13 points and eight rebounds against Cincinnati. Reinhardt averaged 13 points and 8.5 rebounds per contest in the two exhibition games.

ABOUT FINDLAY: The Oilers, who won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship last season en route to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight, play Shawnee State on Tuesday night. Findlay dropped exhibition games against Ohio State and Dayton in the preseason.

Findlay returns just one starter from that team in senior guard Dustin Pfeifer, who averaged 12.8 ppg and dished out 171 assists. The Oilers also welcome back junior forward Frank Phillips, who missed last season due to a knee injury.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST FINDLAY: On March 14, 2003, NKU and Findlay met in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament at Houghton, Mich., and the sixth-seeded Oilers pulled off an 80-76 upset over the third-seeded Norse. Charles Warren scored 25 points to lead Findlay, which avenged a season-opening 70-62 loss to NKU.

The Norse - ranked No. 4 nationally - shot 53.6 percent from the field, but NKU committed 24 turnovers and allowed Findlay to connect on 56.9 percent of its shots from the field.

The Norse led by as many as 10 points in the first half as Quentin Smith scored 16 of his 18 points, but Findlay used a 15-2 run to start the second half to take a 50-42 lead. The Oilers eventually built a 10-point cushion (61-51), but NKU fought back with a late rally.

Bobby St-Preux’s basket with less than a minute left cut Findlay’s lead to 77-76, but Dustin Pfeifer made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to extend the Oilers’ advantage to 79-76. NKU’s Mike Kelsey attempted a 3-point shot in the closing seconds, but the ball rimmed out and Pfeifer added a free throw for the final margin.

LAST YEAR’S CLASSIC: NKU opened the John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic last season with a 55-53 upset over No. 6 Michigan Tech. Harrison Morton scored the final five points of the game as NKU rallied for the win. Morton finished with a team-leading 12 points, including a driving, off-balance scoop shot with 1.5 seconds remaining to give NKU a 55-53 lead.

One night later, Pat Cary scored 17 points and did not miss a shot as NKU eased past Northern Michigan, 73-62. Cary made all six of his attempts from the field and was 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. He also added four blocked shots and was named the Norse’s most outstanding player of the two-day event in Regents Hall.