 |
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - For the second time in a week, Northern Kentucky University will meet Drury in a postseason tournament setting when those two teams play Saturday night in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Regional at Findlay, Ohio. Unlike last week’s encounter at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament, however, the season will end for the team on the short end of the scoreboard. NKU (22-8) is the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5 seed Drury (21-8) in the Great Lakes Regional, which is being be hosted by Findlay (28-1). NKU and Drury split two meetings this season. Drury knocked off NKU, 78-69, last month at Springfield, Mo., and the Norse rallied to eliminate the Panthers from the GLVC Tournament semifinals, 69-62, last Saturday at Evansville, Ind. The NKU/Drury winner will possibly get a shot at top-seeded Findlay, which has won 58 consecutive home games - the longest streak in the nation at any level in the NCAA. The Oilers meet eighth-seeded Wisconsin-Parkside (19-12) in the first round Saturday. All NKU games this weekend can be heard live on WIOK (107.5 FM) and on the Internet at www.nku.edu/~athletics. NKU is making its first trip to the NCAA Division II Tournament since the 2002-03 season. WRIGHT
EARNS MORE HONORS: NKU’s Steven Wright has earned
a spot on the All-Great Lakes Region first team from Daktronics,
Inc. The former Colonel White High School standout also became one of the most electrifying players in Norse history with his resounding dunks, and his 35 slams this season are the most by a guard in NKU history. Wright has led NKU in scoring 13 times this season with a single-game high of 29 against SIUE on Dec. 2. He also earned Great Lakes Valley Conference Player of the Year honors, the first time since 1989 an NKU men's basketball performer captured that award. Wright has led NKU to a 22-8 overall record and helped the Norse capture the GLVC East Division title. He was also named to the GLVC All-Tournament team after leading NKU to the championship game last weekend at Evansville, Ind. A three-year starter at Bowling Green State before transferring to NKU, Wright earlier this season scored his 1,000th career point. TORRID TEAGUE: NKU senior swingman Anthony Teague earned a spot on the GLVC All-Tournament team after scoring 41 points in three games. The 6-5 Teague netted 22 points against Drury in the semifinals last Saturday. He averages 8.8 ppg and leads NKU in 3-pointers made with 57.
NKU’S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY: NKU is 13-9 all-time during NCAA Division II Tournament play. The Norse won Great Lakes Region championships in 1996 and ’97, and in both of those seasons they advanced to the NCAA Division II national championship game and finished as runner-up. THE LAST TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: On March 14, 2003, in Houghton, Mich., NKU suffered an 80-76 first-round upset at the hands of Findlay at the SDC Gymnasium. The Norse - who six days earlier had captured their first-ever GLVC Tournament championship to earn the No. 3 seed in the NCAA II Great Lakes Region - let an early 10-point lead slip away and finished the season with a 25-6 record. Charles Warren scored 25 points as sixth-seeded Findlay knocked off NKU in the opening game of the NCAA Tournament. The Oilers also avenged a season-opening 70-62 loss to NKU and advanced to the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region Tournament semifinals for the second straight year. NKU - ranked No. 4 nationally in the NCAA Division II poll - shot 53.6 percent from the field, but the Norse committed 24 turnovers and allowed Findlay to connect on 56.9 percent of its shots from the field. The Norse led by as many as 10 points in the first half as Quentin Smith scored 16 of his 18 points, but Findlay used a 15-2 run to start the second half to take a 50-42 lead. The Oilers eventually built a 10-point cushion (61-51), but NKU fought back with a late rally. Bobby St-Preux’s basket with less than a minute left cut Findlay’s lead to 77-76, but Dustin Pfeifer made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to extend the Oilers’ advantage to 79-76. NKU’s Mike Kelsey attempted a 3-point shot in the closing seconds, but the ball rimmed out and Pfeifer added a free throw for the final margin. Brenden Stowers scored 20 points and dished out six assists to lead NKU. Smith finished his career at NKU with a double-double (18 points, 13 rebounds), while St-Preux and Kelsey each added nine points. Chris Seabrooks scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds for the Norse, who won the rebounding battle by a 32-22 margin. THE LAST TIME AGAINST DRURY: Last weekend in the semifinals of the GLVC Tournament at Evansville, Ind., Anthony Teague poured in 22 points and NKU rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first half to defeat Drury, 69-62. During the first half, Drury junior forward Collins Harris resembled Michael Jordan in his prime. The 6-foot-5 Harris put on an NBA-type scoring exhibition against NKU, netting Drury’s first 11 points – nine on a trio of 3-point shots – to give his team an early 15-5 cushion. By halftime, Harris already had 23 points and appeared to be on his way to shattering the GLVC Tournament scoring record of 35. Drury, however, needed a late basket by Adam White to forge a 41-all tie at the break. That’s because Harrison Morton scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, including seven to key a 12-1 run that gave NKU a 17-16 lead when Teague knocked down a jumper. |
||||
