QUINCY, Ill. - Jamal Thompson scored 15 points and dished out four assists Thursday night as Quincy University defeated Northern Kentucky University, 68-57, at the Pepsi Arena.
Todd Lorenson came off the bench and added 14 points as Quincy won for just the second time in 18 meetings in the all-time series with NKU. Cory Cummens finished with 11 points as the Hawks improved to 7-8 overall, 3-5 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
Prior to Thursday night, Quincy's only victory in the series was an 86-83 overtime win against the Norse during the 1998-99 season.
Jesse Rupe scored seven points early in the first half as NKU (11-7 overall, 4-4 GLVC) built a 21-11 lead. Quincy, however, stormed back and used a 27-9 run to end the first half for a 38-30 lead at the break.
Cummens capped the Quincy spurt by hiting a three-pointer just before halftime to give the Hawks a 38-30 lead. That came after NKU had turned the ball over while going for the final shot of the half and trailing just 35-30.
“We were down by five with the ball at the end of the first half so we could have gotten the lead down to two. But, they stole the ball and made a big three-point shot to go into the half with an eight point lead,” said NKU head coach Ken Shields.
Quincy led the entire second half, with their biggest advantage being 13 points late in the game. The Hawks held NKU to just 37.3 percent shooting from the field, including 7-for-28 shooting (25 percent) in the second half.
Mike Kelsey led NKU with 12 points, and Steve Purdon added 11. Adam Howell tossed in 10 points for the Norse, who were 9-for-25 from three-point range.
Jordan Roth recorded a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) for Quincy, who won the battle of the boards by a 37-28 margin. Quincy was 13-for-16 from the free throw line in the second half to seal the win.
NKU shot just 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from the free throw line, including 2-for-7 shooting in the first half. Kelsey now has 984 career points for the Norse.
NKU will conclude its two-game road trip Saturday with a 4 p.m. contest at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville.
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Adam Howell |