Kevin Schappell scored 24 points Saturday

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Kevin Schappell arrived at Northern Kentucky University with the reputation of being an outstanding shooter with the ability to score points in a hurry.

Now in his junior season with the Norse, Schappell is living up to the accolades he earned as a prep standout at Loveland (Ohio) High School. After seeing limited playing time his first two years, Schappell has emerged as a consistent scorer and clutch shooter.

In fact, Schappell currently leads NKU in scoring at 15.4 points per game. And he is doing it by coming off the bench and providing the Norse with an offensive spark.

Schappell scored a career-high 24 points and added three steals Saturday as NKU remained unbeaten with a 64-46 win over Drury in Regents Hall. The 6-foot-3 junior came off the bench and scored 16 points in the first half as NKU built a 37-18 lead.

Schappell made a 3-point shot while being fouled with 10:11 remaining in the first half, and he converted the free throw to give the Norse a 12-9 lead.

NKU led the remainder of the game and improved to 5-0 overall, 2-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Schappell made five 3-pointers and finished 8-for-13 from the field, and he credited his teammates for finding the open man on offense.

“Our guys just did a great job of penetrating the gaps, and we’d get wide open, step-in threes,” he said. “It really wasn’t hard; all I had to do was step in and shoot because Billy (Finnell) and (Kevin) Reinhardt drove and kicked it, and I was wide open.”

Schappell is now shooting 63.2 percent from 3-point range, and he leads NKU with 11 steals. Schappell, however, is more focused on winning than individual accomplishments, and he said the goal is to remain perfect in Regents Hall this season.

“We are going on the road next week, so we wanted to start out 5-0 at home,” he said. “We don’t want to lose on this court. That’s our goal for this year. It was another big win for us and a conference win.”

Gavin Ludgood goes for a rebound

And the victory came against a talented Drury team that had posted a road win against Bellarmine two nights earlier. The Panthers, however, shot just 26.9 percent from the field in the first half and never recovered Saturday.

“Our defense was outstanding. We never really let them get into a flow, and we didn’t make a lot of mistakes being in the spots,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Hopefully, that will just carry over and give us confidence that we can play good defense.”

Reinhardt added 17 points and 11 rebounds for NKU. The 6-4 junior forward netted 10 points in the second half.

“Nothing he does surprises me,” Bezold said of Reinhardt. “He just competes so hard, and he’s really matured into a good basketball player, not forcing things and learning the game. He’s been fantastic and very consistent.”

Gavin Ludgood continued his solid play with a 14-point, four-rebound performance. Finnell came off the bench and dished out a game-high four assists and grabbed four rebounds.

As a team, NKU used 21-for-24 shooting from the free-throw line to seal the win. The Norse made 11 of 12 free throws in the second half.

The NKU defense held Drury’s Collins Harris, who entered the game averaging 18 ppg, to just nine points Saturday. The Panthers - who met NKU for the first time in men’s basketball on Saturday - dropped to 4-2 overall, 1-1 in the GLVC.

NKU will hit the road Tuesday for a 6:30 p.m. contest at Indianapolis. The Norse will also meet GLVC East favorite Saint Joseph’s at 8:30 p.m. Thursday night at Rensselaer, Ind.

“We know we have a tough week coming up now, so we definitely wanted to go 5-0 and make it easier, get a little confidence heading out on the road trip,” Schappell said. “Playing on the road anywhere in the conference is tough.”

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