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KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Vincent Humphrey turned the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse into his own personal 3-point shooting gallery Saturday afternoon. Humphrey connected on a career-high six 3-point field goals en route to 18 points to lead Northern Kentucky University to an 87-63 win over Rockhurst. Humphrey, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, hit five 3-pointers during the opening 10 minutes of the game as NKU built a 31-19 lead. Kevin Schappell later added a 3-pointer to give the Norse a 36-21 advantage, and NKU coasted to the win in its first-ever appearance in the Mason-Halpin Fieldhouse. “Coach (Dave Bezold) always tells us, ‘You never know when it’s going to be your turn.’ I was getting open, and they kept getting me the ball, so I kept putting it up,” said Humphrey, a native of Plainfield, Ill., who entered Saturday’s game shooting 39.6 percent from 3-point range. “We needed a big win, and we played well,” he added. “Everyone on our team was hot from the outside in this game. Coach said to shoot it when you get open, and I did.” Did he ever. The Norse were 17-for-28 from behind the arc for 60.7 percent, including 10-for-16 shooting in the first half. Earlier this season, NKU tied a school record by draining 18 3-point field goals en route to an 89-51 win over Tiffin. NKU also made 18 3-pointers on Dec. 16, 1991, during a 126-120 overtime victory at Oakland City (Ind.). “We could not buy a shot during the second half Thursday night (in a 78-69 loss at Drury), and it seemed like we never missed in this game,” Bezold said. “We had good ball movement, found open guys and they were knocking them down from way out. I think our players must have liked this gym.” Steven Wright finished with 17 points and four rebounds for NKU, which improved to 15-6 overall. The Norse regained sole possession of first place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East with an 8-5 record after Saint Joseph’s knocked off Lewis, 82-74. Anthony Teague drained four shots from 3-point range and finished with 14 points, while James Cripe added 12 points, five rebounds and two blocks. Schappell scored 11 points for the Norse, who shot 68.9 percent from the field for the game. Billy Finnell dished out a game-high nine assists and scored seven points for NKU, which will play host to Lewis at 7:45 p.m. Thursday in Regents Hall. |
