Billy Finnell (right) drives to the basket

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - Billy Finnell did not start either game during this weekend’s John L. Griffin/Lions Club Classic, but the Northern Kentucky University freshman turned out to be one of the most important players in the two-day event.

In fact, Finnell was named NKU’s most outstanding player Saturday night after leading the Norse to a 74-66 win over Saginaw Valley State in Regents Hall. The Purcell Marian graduate came off the bench and dished out a career-best eight assists, scored nine points and added three steals.

That came one day after Finnell scored 13 points and had five assists in an 81-71 upset of sixth-ranked Findlay. Finnell, however, praised his teammates for their efforts during the weekend as NKU started the season 2-0.

“This was another team effort. Everyone stepped up, and it was different people from last night,” Finnell said. “Last night, Kevin Reinhardt didn’t have his best game, and tonight he stepped up and was our leading scorer. Kevin Schappell was right there again, working hard.

“Mark Hawkins came through when Aaron (Smith) got hurt. Gavin (Ludgood) made some key plays at the end of the game. It was just a team effort, and everybody stepped up and played hard.”

The NKU bench poured in 40 points and added nine assists to spark the victory.

Reinhardt scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half as NKU built a 39-27 lead at the break. The Norse shot 60.9 percent from the field during the first half.

“Last night, it was Vincent Humphrey who led us in scoring, and tonight Kevin Reinhardt,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “He is capable of doing that, and to his credit he stayed with the system we were running. We called some plays for him when we thought he had the opportunity to make some plays, and to his credit, he made the plays.”

Kevin Reinhardt led NKU with 21 points

A 3-pointer by Finnell to begin the second half extended NKU’s advantage to 42-27, and the Norse still maintained a 14-point cushion (54-40) with 10 minutes left in the game when Harrison Morton soared past the Cardinal defense for a layup.

Saginaw Valley State, however, hit NKU with a 19-9 run to get within 63-59 on Donald Yates’ dunk with 3:12 remaining. Ludgood responded by hitting a jumper off an assist from Finnell to push NKU’s lead to 65-59, and the Norse made nine free throws in the final minute to ice the win.

“You have to be able to go up to the line and make the free throws,” Bezold said after his team made 80 percent of its attempts Saturday.

Schappell added 11 points off the bench for NKU and was named the recipient of the John L. Griffin Hustle Award for his play during the two-day event. Hawkins added nine points and drained a key 3-pointer in the second half that gave the Norse a 63-52 lead.

Hawkins, a Finneytown High School graduate and a sophomore guard, said the key to NKU’s success was stopping the opposition.

“Defense was the main thing that got us through the game,” he said. “Like coach says, a 10-point lead is the hardest thing to keep in a game. Defensively, we got stops. We caused a couple of five-second violations and shot-clock violations, and that helped us out a lot in the end.”

Andrae Betts led Saginaw Valley State (1-2) with 18 points. Yates came off the bench and scored 14 points for the Cardinals.

NKU will play Grand Valley State at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in Regents Hall. Grand Valley State, Findlay and Saginaw Valley State are all members of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

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