Sunday, January 09, 2000
NKU 96, Bellarmine 83
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
After eight-straight games on the road, Northern Kentucky's men's team returned home Saturday to beat Bellarmine 96-83 behind a 54-point second half.
“I had a lot of people ask me recently about how the kids would respond to playing at home again,” NKU coach Ken Shields said. “I thought we would go hard and play really well. Obviously, it didn't work out that way, but we converted 20 of our first 28 possessions (into points) in the second half.”
NKU had last played at Regents Hall Nov.27. During the road trip, it won six games, including two to capture a holiday tournament, and suffered its only two losses of the season, one in the San Juan (Puerto Rico) Shootout.
The Norse (11-2, 3-1 Great Lakes Valley Conference) earned its 11th consecutive win over Bellarmine (5-6, 0-5). They trailed by as many as nine points and were losing by six before blitzing the Knights with a four-minute 21-2 run that put them up 13.
Junior guard Brian Lawhon, who had reached double figures just once in his last eight games, started the run with a 3-pointer and scored seven points in that span. He led all scorers with 21 in the game.
Junior forward Billy Brewster, a junior-college transfer redshirted last season, added six, including a layup with 11:02 left in the game that gave NKU its first lead since 2:05 remained in the first half.
“It doesn't get any better than that,” said the 6-foot-7 Brewster, who scored eight of his 12 points in the second half. “In the first half, I just wasn't into it. I was just focusing more in the second half. I think my quickness helped us get into the gaps.”
Said Lawhon: “(Brewster) stepped up. “The coaches told him at halftime that if they had to take him out, he wasn't going back in. I think his quickness helped on the defensive end. We need that from him the whole game, every game.”
NKU had problems with Bellarmine's penetration in the first half, which led to it being called for 15 fouls and the Knights to hit 13-of-16 free throws. They shot just eight free throws in the second half.
Lawhon hit 7-of-8 from the field, including 4-4 3-pointers.
“Brian, in his first two years, had a great impact on the program, but he knew that, recently, he's been below that level,” Shields said.
BELLARMINE (83) — Brooks 4-8 4-4 13, Etienne 2-4 0-0 5, Swan 3-4 1-2 7, McCurry 3-8 4-4 10, Bixler 7-10 1-1 18, Ayer 2-4 4-5 8, Peterson 1-2 0-1 2, Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, English 2-4 3-4 7, Grimes 3-5 2-3 9, Eagleman 2-3 0-0 4. Totals: 29-53 19-24 83.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (96) — Sanders 6-9 4-6 18, Brewster 6-13 0-1 12, Wieber 0-2 4-4 4, Lawhon 7-8 4-4 21, Listerman 2-3 3-3 7, Conley 6-9 1-3 14, Perdrix 0-0 0-0 0, Schaefer 0-0 0-0 0, Stowers 1-4 0-0 2, Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Rupe 0-0 0-0 0, Norwell 4-8 2-2 10, Marston 2-6 3-4 8. Totals: 34-62 20-28 96.
Halftime Score: Bellarmine 47, Northern Kentucky 42. 3-pointers: Bellarmine 6-20 (Brooks 1-4, Etienne 1-1, McCurry 0-2, Bixler 3-5, Ayer 0-2, Peterson 0-1, Thomas 0-1, English 0-1, Grimes 1-3). Northern Kentucky 8-14 (Sanders 2-4, Lawhon 4-4, Conley 1-1, Stowers 0-1, Marston 1-4). Fouled out — none. Rebounds — Bellarmine 25 (Etienne, Swan, Eagleman 4), Northern Kentucky 35 (Marston 7). Assists — Bellarmine 11 (Bixler 3), Northern Kentucky 17 (Conley, Listerman 4). Total fouls — Bellarmine 25, Northern Kentucky 23. A — 1,143.
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