Kevin Schappell drives to the basket

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - One of the keys to earning a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament is winning conference games at home.

That in itself made Thursday night’s home game against Lewis extremely important for Northern Kentucky University, which began the evening ranked fourth in the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region poll. The Norse were also in second place in the Great Lakes Valley Conference East, one game ahead of both Lewis and Wisconsin-Parkside.

Thanks to some clutch 3-point shooting in the second half Thursday night, not to mention outstanding play from its bench, NKU has built a two-game lead over both Lewis and Wisconsin-Parkside.

Mark Hawkins came off the bench and hit a trio of 3-pointers in the second half as NKU rallied for a 59-54 win over Lewis. The Norse improved to 11-5 overall, 6-2 in the GLVC.

“It was a tough, tough basketball game. Lewis plays great man-to-man defense, and they don’t allow you to get into a flow offensively,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “It’s hard to watch sometimes from the stands because it’s a smash-mouth game, and it’s not very pretty.

“We’d get up, they’d get up, and we made the plays at the end.”

Lewis (10-6, 4-4 GLVC) held a 38-31 lead with 13:28 left in the game, but Hawkins connected on two consecutive 3-pointers to bring NKU within 38-37. Moments later, Harrison Morton drained a 3-pointer from the left corner to give the Norse a 40-38 lead.

“Mark Hawkins, Harrison Morton and Travis Rasso came in and gave us a huge lift, and offensively they were so important in the second half,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Then, Scottie Bibbins gave us a big, big spark in the last seven minutes.”

Mark Hawkins hits a 3-pointer

After Lewis regained the lead at 45-43 with 8:31 left, David McFarland hit a 3-pointer to give NKU a 46-45 advantage. With NKU holding a 47-46 lead, Bibbins drove the lane and made a basket while being fouled. He converted the free throw to extend the Norse advantage to 50-46 with 6:05 left in the game.

Hawkins later hit another 3-pointer with the shot clock winding down to give the Norse a 55-48 lead with 2:14 remaining. Kevin Schappell sealed the victory for NKU by making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

Billy Finnell scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds for NKU, which is surprising those who expected a rebuilding year.

“I think we are young, so people didn’t expect much of us,” Finnell said. “But, I can see how people could see us as overachieving.

“Not ours, because we expect to win. But not a lot of other people do. From another person’s perspective, I can see how they could think that.”

Rasso blocked four shots and grabbed seven rebounds for the Norse. He also added a key tip-in during the second half. The NKU bench contributed 32 points on Thursday.

“Everyone stepped up when they got on the court,” Finnell said. “We worked hard, and our effort was there the whole game. Travis Rasso stepped up and played some great defense. Mark Hawkins hit three big threes. It was just a team effort.”

NKU will play host to Wisconsin-Parkside - which lost at Bellarmine on Thursday night - at 3:15 p.m. Saturday.