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ALLENDALE, Mich. - All streaks eventually end, and no one expects Northern Kentucky University’s recent dominance over Kentucky Wesleyan to last forever. But the Norse - having beaten Kentucky Wesleyan eight consecutive times going into Saturday’s NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament - hoped it would last at least one more game. It did. And, as a result, NKU is two wins away from advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time since 1997. NKU continued its four-year hex against Kentucky Wesleyan with a 61-55 victory over the Panthers in the Grand Valley State Fieldhouse. The Norse improved to 21-7 and advanced to meet top-seeded Grand Valley State in Sunday night’s regional semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Findlay plays Gannon (Pa.) in the other semifinal. Grand Valley State is ranked No. 1 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll and is unbeaten (34-0). “What a challenge that is going to be, because Grand Valley State is the best team in the country and there is going to be a full house in here to see us play,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “This is why you play, and it’s going to be a great atmosphere in this arena. "Grand Valley State is a special team, and they knocked us out last year in the regional finals, so we know how good they are and how hard they compete every game.” NKU held Kentucky Wesleyan scoreless for more than four minutes late in the second half to survive the first round Saturday. NKU owned a 53-46 lead with less than six minutes remaining after a rebound basket by DeAaron Williams, but Kentucky Wesleyan (24-8) countered with a 7-0 run to tie the score at 53-all on a jumper by Rodney Edgerson with 4:42 left on the clock. Those, however, would be Kentucky Wesleyan’s final points until a basket at the buzzer. Anthony Teague’s jumper gave NKU a 55-53 lead with 4:02 remaining, and Harrison Morton’s driving layup with 1:02 left extended the Norse’s advantage to 57-53. Morton then made a pair of free throws with 19.2 seconds left to give NKU a 59-53 lead, and Teague sealed the win by making two more free throws. Morton, Teague and Williams each finished with 11 points for the Norse, who defeated Kentucky Wesleyan for the third time this season. NKU has beaten Kentucky Wesleyan nine consecutive times during the past four years.
“Kentucky Wesleyan has a great deal of talent, and they have the GLVC Player of the Year in Jeff Fahnbulleh, so we knew this was going to be another tough game,” said Bezold, who is now 9-0 all-time against the Panthers. “You just want to survive and move on, and that’s what we did. Our defense did a great job late in the game, and our guys were able to beat a very good team. We match up very well with Wesleyan, and it happened to work out for us again.” Fahnbulleh, a 6-foot-7, 270-pound inside force, finished with 17 points. NKU senior center Travis Rasso did a good job of helping to contain Fahnbulleh defensively and added eight points and six rebounds. “Travis has been really solid since we put him in the starting lineup, and that continued in this game,” Bezold said. “Fahnbulleh is so strong inside, one of the most physical players I have ever seen, but Travis held his own.” Kentucky Wesleyan started off torrid and built an 11-2 lead five minutes into the game. NKU, however, countered with a 25-8 run to take a 27-19 advantage when Morton buried a jumper at the 6:05 mark of the first half. Dennis Gagai and Mark Hawkins each came off the bench in the first half and drained a pair of 3-pointers as the Norse took a 29-27 lead at the break. Gagai scored eight points, while Hawkins added six. Billy Finnell dished out a game-high seven assists for NKU, which shot 44.2 percent from the field. The Norse were 6-for-25 from 3-point range but committed only nine turnovers the entire game. T.J. Smith scored 13 points for the Panthers, who were 2-for-11 from 3-point range. Kentucky Wesleyan also made only 50 percent of its free throws.
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