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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - For the men's basketball program at Wisconsin-Parkside, time is running out on ever getting a victory inside Regents Hall. Since the Bank of Kentucky Center will be opening in 2008, the Rangers will get just one more crack at Northern Kentucky University in the old, tiny venue the Norse have called home since 1972. The Rangers are now 0-for-12 all-time in Regents Hall after watching NKU rally from a 13-point deficit for a 70-66 win on Saturday. The Norse held the visitors to 39.1 percent shooting from the field during the second half to pull out the victory. Steven Wright scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to lead NKU, which improved to 17-6 overall, 10-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The 6-foot-3 senior guard also grabbed seven rebounds and collected five steals as the Norse remained in sole possession of first place in the GLVC East Division. NKU head coach Dave Bezold, who watched Wisconsin-Parkside rally against his team last month for a win, thought the Norse became the aggressors in the second half. "I really felt the first half, when we were back on our heels, that we weren’t the aggressor. In the second half, our guys had a lot of pride and they came out fresh and played much harder," he said. "We were fortunate enough that Parkside threw a few balls into the stands. It gave us some extra possessions in the second half to win this game." Wisconsin-Parkside, in fact, committed 10 of its 16 turnovers in the second half. The Rangers scored just five points during the final 6:02 of the game, allowing NKU to overcome a 61-56 deficit. Wright delivered five straight points, including a clutch 3-pointer from way outside, to even the score at 61-all. The Rangers battled back and took their final lead at 65-63 on a Brad Ferstenou jumper with 3:08 left, but the Rangers scored just one point the remainder of the game. Wright's jumper tied the game at 65-all with 1:20 remaining. Tyrone Deacon missed a 3-pointer with less than a minute left, and Billy Finnell grabbed the rebound. NKU worked the ball around, and Anthony Teague found Finnell alone on the left wing. The sophomore point guard launched a 3-pointer that found the bottom of the net for a 68-65 Norse advantage with 23 seconds left in the game. "It was a huge shot by Billy. I know Parkside did not want Steve to have the ball with the game on the line, so Anthony made a good pass, and Billy drained it," Bezold said. NKU appeared to have sealed the win after Ferstenou missed a potential tying 3-pointer with 5.3 seconds left and James Cripe rebounded the ball. David McFarland was whistled for a foul on the rebound attempt, however, sending Kyle Clark to the line for a pair of free throws. Clark made the first attempt to make it 68-66, but he intentionally missed the second try. Teague hauled in the rebound and was fouled with 3.8 seconds left. The NKU senior missed the front end of the bonus and Clark rebounded, but Teague stole the ball and was again fouled. This time, he made both attempts to ice the 70-66 win.
"Wow. It was a good game," Teague said. "Coach stresses defense and not offense. When he came in at the half, he didn’t say 'let’s make some shots.' He said 'let’s play some great defense.' That’s what we tried to do in the second half. We also hit some big shots, and that's a really good team we were able to beat." Teague kept NKU close in the first half by netting 11 of his 16 points. James Cripe added 14 points, including the Norse's first three field goals of the second half to spark the comeback. "Our guys, to their credit, kept battling back and that’s something about this group; they’ve got great senior leadership," Bezold said. "They won’t let you quit. They just keep fighting until the very end. I was very proud of them. At the end of the first half, when we were down 13, we made a nice run and ended up cutting it down to nine. "When you go into your locker room and you’re down nine on your home floor, it gives you the opportunity to think you can come back and win. It was manageable, instead of a double-digit deficit." Just two days after establishing a school record for fewest turnovers in a game with four, NKU turned the ball over just eight times Saturday. Finnell said he has an idea about that statistic. "Coach makes us run in practice for every turnover that we have, and I guess that’s kind of stuck in our brains that we don’t need to turn the ball over," said the Purcell Marian High School graduate. "It’s been working out well for us the last few games." Juan Lopez led Wisconsin-Parkside (16-10, 7-8 GLVC) with 17 points and nine rebounds. LaVontay Fenderson added 14 points for the Rangers. The Norse conclude their home schedule next week with games against Bellarmine (Tuesday at 7:45 p.m.) and Kentucky Wesleyan (Thursday at 7:45 p.m.). Prior to the start of the contest against Kentucky Wesleyan, NKU will recognize its four senior players - Wright, Teague, Cripe and Kevin Schappell – manager Nathan Rutledge and their families. The Norse will close out the regular season with road games against Saint Joseph's (Feb. 22) and Indianapolis (Feb. 24). NKU begins the GLVC Tournament on March 1 at Evansville, Ind. Times and first-round pairings for the GLVC Tournament will be announced in the evening on Feb. 24. |
