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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - A rugged weekend of Great Lakes Valley Conference basketball begins for Northern Kentucky University on Thursday night when unbeaten Quincy (5-0) visits Regents Hall for a 7:45 p.m. contest. NKU will also play host to defending NCAA Division II Great Lakes Region champion Southern Illinois at Edwardsville at 3:15 p.m. Saturday. Both games can be heard live on WIOK (107.5 FM) and on the Internet at www.nku.edu/~athletics. The SIUE game will be televised live on ICN-6 Saturday afternoon. Quincy is ranked No. 20 nationally in the latest NCAA Division II poll, while SIUE is No. 21. NKU is 3-1 overall after cruising to an 86-61 win over Thomas More last Saturday night. The Norse are 0-1 in the GLVC. WRIGHT ON TARGET: The scoring of Steven Wright allowed NKU to run away from Thomas More in the second half last Saturday. Wright, who finished 7-for-11 from the field with six rebounds, scored 14 of his game-high 21 points after the halftime break. Wright, a 6-foot-3 senior guard, leads NKU in scoring at 14.8 points per game. He is shooting 58.3 percent from the field and 80 percent from the free-throw line. THE HAWK SOARS: NKU junior guard Mark Hawkins poured in a season-high 13 points against Thomas More. Hawkins scored eight points in the first half, including a pair of 3-point field goals. SECOND-HALF SPURT: NKU used a 10-0 run at the start of the second half last Saturday to extend a 39-27 lead to 49-27. Billy Finnell capped the 10-0 spurt by draining a 3-pointer with 17:39 to play, and the Norse would lead by as many as 29 points later in the half. CRIPE IN THE CLUTCH: NKU senior center James Cripe scored five points during the decisive 10-0 run to start the second half against Thomas More. Cripe averages 10.3 ppg and a team-leading 4.5 rebounds per contest. The 7-footer is also shooting 57.7 percent from the field.
LONG-RANGE LEFTY: NKU junior forward Vincent Humphrey is No. 3 in the GLVC in 3-point shooting at 55.6 percent. The 6-4 lefty has connected on 5-for-9 from long range. ABOUT QUINCY: The unbeaten Hawks (5-0) are ranked No. 20 nationally in the latest NCAA Division II poll. Quincy posted impressive wins last week over both South Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha in Omaha, Neb. Quincy features the scoring of senior guard Ryan Walker (13.2 ppg) and junior guard Andre Muse (13.2 ppg). Walker has already made 12 3-pointers this season. Senior swingman Marcus Medsker is scoring 11.6 ppg and senior center/forward Joel Box averages 11.0 ppg. NKU ATTEMPTS TO SNAP QUINCY HEX: NKU has lost four consecutive games against Quincy. The Norse have not defeated the Hawks since Dec. 1, 2003, when NKU held on for a 75-73 win over Quincy in Regents Hall. THE LAST TIME AGAINST QUINCY: On Feb. 4, 2006, Jordan Roth scored five points in the final 1:38 of the game as Quincy rallied for a 62-59 win over NKU in the Pepsi Arena. Roth finished with a game-high 20 points and eight assists. NKU rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second half. The Norse held a 59-57 lead with 2:52 left after a basket by Billy Finnell, but those would be the final points of the game for NKU. Roth made one free throw with 1:38 remaining to cut NKU’s lead to 59-58, and his jumper with 53 seconds left gave Quincy a 60-59 advantage. NKU twice had chances to regain the lead. Finnell missed a jumper with 41 seconds left, but Schappell chased down the loose ball. After a timeout, the Norse worked the clock and looked for the go-ahead score in the final seconds. Schappell - who drained a trio of 3-pointers in the second half to spark NKU’s comeback - received the ball as the shot clock was winding down, and he attempted a jumper from the left side. His shot, however, was blocked by Andre Muse as the shot clock expired, and Quincy was awarded the ball. Roth was fouled with 3.1 seconds left and made both free throws to give Quincy a 62-59 lead, and Finnell’s desperation 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.
ABOUT SIUE: The Cougars, ranked 21st nationally, will play at Bellarmine on Thursday. SIUE returns four starters from last season’s regional championship team and is expected to again contend for a trip to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight. Mike Hardiek leads SIUE in scoring at 15.3 ppg. The Cougars also feature one of the top guards in the nation in senior Ty Johnson (10.0 ppg). THE LAST TIME AGAINST SIUE: On March 3, 2006, in the opening round of the GLVC Tournament, SIUE held off a late NKU rally for a 78-74 win at Evansville, Ind. SIUE used its lightning-quick perimeter players to shoot 57.4 percent from the field and advanced to the GLVC semifinals. Harrison Morton scored 26 points to keep NKU close. Morton drained five 3-point shots and finished 9-for-15 from the field. SIUE shot 60 percent from the field in the first half to take a 36-27 advantage at the break. Morton scored 15 in the opening half for the Norse, who shot just 37.5 percent from the field before intermission. SIUE extended its lead to 48-34 with 14:32 remaining in the game, but NKU countered with a 20-8 run to pull within 56-54. The Cougars appeared to have sealed the win with 21 seconds left when J.B. Jones converted a pair of free throws for a 74-67 lead, but NKU would rally one last time. Morton drained a long 3-pointer from the left corner with 8.1 seconds on the clock to slice the deficit to 76-74. Jones was fouled with 5.8 seconds left, and he calmly sealed the win by making both free throws. Jones set a GLVC Tournament record by going 13-for-13 from the line, and he scored a team-leading 21 points. |
