Head Coach Dave Bezold

“We were just asking our guys to prove that we can play winning basketball. We’ve been getting accolades and pats on the back for competing against three great teams in Division I, and we weren’t interested in getting patted on the back. We wanted to win a basketball game against a great team and we did.”

“It feels great. I was hoping it wouldn’t come after January 1. I’m glad it came in 2004 not 2005. But I guess that monkey’s off our back. But we’ve got to line it up again in less than 24 hours to play again, and our guys will be ready.”

“Harrison did great job there. We were really close to taking him out of the ball game just because we wanted a little more experience out on the floor, and then we felt like he would create a good opportunity to generate some offense because we weren’t generating with anything, and he made some great plays. He’s won state championships and been in some big games, and when he’s got the ball in his hand, he can make it happen. He’s one of those kids who wants to win the game and will find a way to win it for you.”

Harrison Morton

On the winning shot...
“ I was supposed to go to get the ball, and I was supposed to take it to the hole and go off of Derek’s (Smith) pick. I was supposed to kick it out, but I thought I had a way to the basket, so I just took it.”

On his first game with NKU...
“I was nervous at first, but I finally got into it. I got into the rhythm of the game.”

Derek Smith

On his first win...
“ It was great. We did exactly what we wanted to do. We wanted to come out and play hard and get a win over a great team, and that’s what we did. We wanted to start the season right. We practiced real hard for it, and we came out and did the job. It took a little bit towards the end there to pull it out, but we did it.”

On Division II Bulletin preseason National Player of the Year Josh Buettner...
“He’s a great player. We knew he was going to come in and battle, and he did just that. He came in and gave everything he had, which he does every game. So, we’re glad to come out of here with a win. We know next time we play him we are going to have to do a much better job defensively on him and the rest of the guys.”

On the strengths and weaknesses of the Norse...
“ I think defensively we need to do a little bit of a better job on screens. I think they came off some screens there towards the end and got a couple shots that we didn’t want. Luckily, they didn’t fall for them, but there towards the end did a great job and gave them back, and we’ve got to do that coming down the stretch. We’ve got to play better defense than we did, and we battled back offensively. And, we did a great job, I think.”