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QUINCY, Ill. - Just when it appeared Northern Kentucky University had it all wrapped up Thursday night, Quincy rallied and took the lead in the closing seconds. Norse head coach Dave Bezold had seen this routine before with Quincy. “It seems like they always hit last-second shots to beat us after coming from behind,” Bezold said. “For a moment, I thought it was going to happen again.” NKU senior forward Harrison Morton, however, made sure the ending was different this time. Morton’s inside basket with two seconds remaining in the game gave NKU a 74-73 victory over Quincy in the Pepsi Arena. Quincy - which trailed by 10 points with 3:59 left in the game - had taken a 73-72 lead with 27.1 seconds left after Andre Muse completed a conventional three-point play. Muse hit a short jumper in the lane while being fouled, and he converted the free throw to give the Hawks a 73-72 lead. NKU ran the clock down under 10 seconds on the final possession, and Billy Finnell drove the lane between two defenders. Finnell found Morton underneath the basket on the left side of the lane, and the senior forward powered his way up for the winning shot. Quincy inbounded the ball to Marlon Jackson, who launched a 50-foot desperation shot that fell short at the buzzer, and NKU walked out of the Pepsi Arena with a win for the first time since 2003. A year ago, Muse hit a last-second shot in Regents Hall to give the Hawks a 70-68 win over NKU. Two years ago, Quincy scored the final five points of the game to pull out a 62-57 win over NKU in the Pepsi Arena. In 2005, the Hawks staged an improbable comeback in the final five minutes to post a 75-74 win over the Norse on the same court. “Quincy always plays very hard, and they don’t give up,” Bezold said. “The game was a lot of fun for the fans to watch, and it was fun for me until there was about three minutes left. Billy made a great drive and dish to Harrison, and he finished the play like you expect him to do. He had a great game for us, and this is a huge win on the road against a very good team.” Morton finished with 20 points to lead NKU, which improved to 3-1 overall, 1-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. Anthony Teague added 14 points for the Norse, who were 11-for-20 from 3-point range. NKU shot 8-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half to build a 42-34 lead at the break. Teague buried a trio of 3-pointers, while Dennis Gagai and walk-on Jimmy Ryan each drained a pair of treys. “Our guys
shot the ball well in the first half, and I thought Jimmy Ryan came
in and did a great job for us,” Bezold said. Muse - who made six 3-pointers - scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Quincy, which is 2-1 overall, 0-1 GLVC. The Hawks, however, were just 11-for-22 at the free-throw line.
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