Mark Hawkins scored 15 points

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - It’s not unusual to walk into Regents Hall at night and see Mark Hawkins practicing his shot from 3-point range. That extra work paid huge dividends for Northern Kentucky University on Thursday night against Kentucky Wesleyan.

Hawkins scored a career-high 15 points and made four 3-pointers as NKU rallied past Kentucky Wesleyan, 71-63. The sophomore guard from Finneytown High School drained a trio of 3-pointers in the first half en route to scoring 12 points to keep the Norse in the game.

“We’re very fortunate that Mark knocked down some shots for us because if he didn’t early, they probably would have sat down in that zone and I don’t know if we would have been confident enough to walk in and make them,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said after his team defeated Kentucky Wesleyan for the third straight time.

Hawkins, who averages 4.8 points per game, finished 4-for-6 from long range. He also grabbed six rebounds as NKU improved to 9-3 overall, 4-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

The Norse also took sole possession of first place in the GLVC East after previously unbeaten Saint Joseph’s lost on the road Thursday night at Southern Illinois at Edwardsville. The play of both Gavin Ludgood (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Kevin Schappell (16 points, five rebounds) on Thursday night also helped elevate NKU atop the GLVC East standings.

Hawkins credited his teammates for their ability to draw the Kentucky Wesleyan defense in, giving him the open looks.

“We had people who were penetrating and kicking the ball out. Coach (Kevin) Listerman told me I needed to get my feet ready and step in when somebody is penetrating,” he said. “I think that helped me out a lot. My teammates would collapse the defense and then kick it to the open man which happened to be me, and I was fortunate enough to make the shots.”

Kevin Schappell scored 16 points

After Kentucky Wesleyan took a 40-35 lead with 16:51 left in the game, NKU used a 10-2 run to gain a 45-42 advantage on a 3-pointer by David McFarland with 14:20 on the clock. A basket by Tyson Martin at the 9:28 mark gave Kentucky Wesleyan a 54-51 lead, but Ludgood countered with a short jumper to bring NKU within 54-53.

On the Norse’s next possession, Scott Bibbins found Hawkins open on the wing for a 3-point attempt. Hawkins drained the shot to give NKU a 56-54 advantage, and the Norse led the remainder of the game.

NKU’s defense also tightened up late in the second half. Kentucky Wesleyan started the final 20 minutes by hitting seven of its first 10 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers.

“We closed out on the shooters,” Hawkins said of the NKU defense late in the game. “They had a few shooters on their team that we were slow to get out to on the perimeter coach told us in the huddle, ‘Hey you’ve got to get out there. Get out there faster and don’t help so much.’ We got caught helping on the penetration too much and they would kick it out just as we would to get the open looks.”

NKU shot just 54.2 percent from the free-throw line, but the Norse made 11 of their final 13 attempts to ice the victory. NKU also won the rebounding battle by a 39-26 margin and committed just seven turnovers.

“I was very happy that we didn’t turn the ball over but seven times. That’s going to be important on Saturday (against Southern Indiana),” Bezold said. “We didn’t shoot the free throws very well, but we did get 16 extra possessions with offensive rebounds.”

Schappell agreed that offensive rebounding made a big difference.

“Coach (David) Marshall is yelling and screaming at us everyday in practice, ‘Crash the offensive boards…get the boards.’ He does that all day,” Schappell said. “If I don’t crash the offensive boards, I know I’m running. He does that to everybody and not just me. Coach Marshall is big on everyone crashing the boards.”

Billy Finnell added 12 points and two assists for the Norse, and Vincent Humphrey scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds. Alvin Lewis led Kentucky Wesleyan (4-7, 2-3 GLVC) with 17 points and eight assists.

The Norse will meet Southern Indiana - ranked No. 5 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll - at 3:15 p.m. Saturday in Regents Hall. Southern Indiana is 15-1 overall after defeating Bellarmine on Thursday.

The Screaming Eagles beat NKU three times last season, including a 79-49 win in the GLVC Tournament championship game.

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