Mike Kelsey

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - The Northern Kentucky University men’s basketball team will hit the road this week for two Great Lakes Valley Conference games, starting Thursday with an 8:30 p.m. contest at Wisconsin-Parkside.

NKU will also visit Romeoville, Ill., on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game against Lewis. The Norse are 10-12 overall after dropping an 87-74 decision to Indianapolis last Saturday in Regents Hall. NKU is 6-10 in the GLVC.

The Norse are in seventh place in the GLVC standings, but with Kentucky Wesleyan ineligible for the GLVC Tournament, NKU is currently sixth as far as seeding for that eight-team event.

Lewis and Bellarmine both trail NKU by two games with 4-12 GLVC records, while Wisconsin-Parkside and Missouri-St. Louis are 2 1/2 games behind the Norse. The GLVC Tournament will begin March 3 at Evansville, Ind., in Roberts Stadium.

KELSEY EXTENDS STREAK: Mike Kelsey enters Thursday having scored in double figures in 10 consecutive games. The senior guard leads NKU in scoring at 15.6 points per game, and he has also made a team-leading 59 three-point shots.

Kelsey currently ranks No. 10 in NKU history with 1,473 career points. He needs just 23 points to pass his brother-in-law, Paul Cluxton, for ninth place on the list. Cluxton scored 1,495 points as a member of the Norse from 1993-97.

FERGERSON ON TARGET: NKU junior guard Courtney Fergerson scored a career-high 15 points against Indianapolis last Saturday. It marked the third time that Fergerson has scored in double figures since joining the team in January. For the season, Fergerson averages 8.8 ppg.

SMITH ON THE BOARDS: NKU junior forward Derek Smith grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds Saturday against Indianapolis. He also scored 18 points to record his second double-double of the season. Smith leads NKU in rebounding at 5.6 rebounds per game, and he averages 11.5 ppg.

CARY REMAINS CONSISTENT: NKU senior center Pat Cary has scored in double figures in three straight games and five of his past six contests. For the season, he averages 10.1 ppg and 4.5 rebounds. Cary is also shooting 53.1 percent from the field and leads the team with 21 blocked
shots.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE: Earlier this season on Jan. 22, NKU made its first nine shots from the field and coasted to a 101-86 win over Wisconsin-Parkside in Regents Hall. The Norse finished the game at 64.9 percent shooting from the field.

Pat Cary led the offensive attack with 22 points on 9-for-10 shooting from the field. The 6-foot-9 senior center scored 10 of NKU’s first 12 points, and the Norse controlled the entire game. Cary also grabbed six rebounds for NKU, which won the battle of the boards by a 37-29 margin.

Mike Kelsey added 17 points and drained a trio of three-point shots for the NKU, which finished 12-for-22 from three-point range. The NKU bench contributed 37 points, led by Derek Smith with 13.

Courtney Fergerson added nine points, while teammate Harrison Morton finished with eight points.
Kevin Boutelle led Wisconsin-Parkside with 24 points and seven rebounds. Boutelle was held to just four points in the first half, when NKU built a 25-point lead.

THE LAST TIME AGAINST LEWIS: Earlier this season on Dec. 9, the night belonged to Lewis senior guard Anthony Scala, who led the Flyers to a 75-68 win over NKU with an amazing long-range shooting performance.

Scala unleashed a barrage of three-point shots - many of which were launched from at least 25 feet while fading away - against NKU and scored a game-high 32 points to rally the Flyers to the victory. Scala finished 8-for-16 from behind the arc, and he scored 24 points in the second half.

NKU took a 38-30 lead to the locker room at halftime, and the Norse did it by shooting 58.3 percent from the field. After Derek Smith gave NKU a 40-30 lead early in the second half, Scala went to work.

He sparked a 14-0 run early in the second half with 11 points as Lewis built a 50-44 lead with 12:12 left in the game. Lewis eventually forged a 13-point advantage (65-52) on a layup by Steve Turner, but NKU battled back with nine straight points and cut the deficit to 65-61 on a free throw by Smith with 2:45 remaining.

Scala, however, halted the comeback when he drained a three-pointer from 25 feet to give the Flyers a 68-61 advantage with 2:31 remaining. His shooting performance enabled Lewis to snap an 11-game losing streak in Regents Hall against NKU.

The Flyers had not posted a road victory at NKU since a 97-88 win on Feb. 11, 1993.

Smith led NKU with 18 points and seven rebounds. Harrison Morton added 14 points, while Mike Kelsey finished with 13 points.