Sunday, February 20, 2000
NKU 68, IPFW 63
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
Comforted by a sense of relief, NKU forward Scott Marston offered up an assessment of the point his team has reached in the season.
“It's obvious we're struggling offensively now,” said the 6-foot-7 senior after NKU's tougher-than-expected 68-63 victory over Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne. “It's no secret. I'm just glad we're getting it out of the way now, because we know we can't play this way against teams like Kentucky Wesleyan and Southern Indiana.”
The Norse (23-4, 15-3 GLVC) are ranked No.22 in the nation in Division II and are looking forward to making noise in the NCAA tournament. NKU wraps up the regular season with must-win road games this week at SIU-Edwardsville Thursday and Southern Indiana Saturday.
“We haven't had a good game in a while,” said junior guard Craig Conley, who had nine points to top the 1,000-point barrier for his career. “We're definitely out of sync right now. We knew we had to win tonight and just have to keep adding up the wins.”
NKU trailed at halftime 34-30 after only getting four points from its starters in the first half and shooting 31 percent from the field.
IPFW extended the lead to seven, 47-40, with 15:22 left to play before NKU went on a 14-5 run to take a 54-52 lead with 10:02 to play. Marston, who finished with a game-high 21 points, had a 3-pointer and three foul shots to key the end of the run.
That stretch seemed to get the Norse going offensively and by 3:37 left in the game, they held a 64-56 lead.
Then Conley was called for a charge and IPFW's Steve Griffin hit a three. Turnovers — a problem all night for NKU, which had 20 — crept up again when Kevin Listerman turned the ball over on a drive to the hoop. IPFW scored a layup, then after another empty NKU possession, Griffin hit a long jumper to pull IPFW within one, 64-63, with 1:50 to play.
“We really had a period where we had no positive plays and gave them life,” NKU coach Ken Shields said.
But then his team was picked up by the game's biggest play.
With just 45 seconds left and the lead still at one, Conley drove aggressively to the hoop, scored on a layup and was fouled. He missed the foul shot, but still had delivered NKU's first basket in nearly 6:30.
“He made a big play going down the pike,” Shields said. “He has an uncanny way to get there and finish.”
IPFW (10-14, 7-11) — Akanni 8-13 1-2 20, Wise 3-8 2-4 9, Meshberger 1-1 0-0 2, Woodwall 1-4 2-2 4, Griffin 6-17, 0-0 15, Gibbs 1-6 0-0 2, Noll 0-5 2 2 2, Spicer 0-1 0-0 0, Ishman 1-2 0-0 2, Crow 3-6 0-0 7. Totals: 24-63 7-10 63.
NKU (23-4, 15-3) — Sanders 1-7 2-2 5, Brewster 2-4 0-1 4, Wieber 2-3 0-0 4, Lawhon 1-5 3-4 6, Listerman 1-4 0-0 3, Conley 3-7 2-3 9, Stowers 1-5 0-0 3, Rupe 0-1 2-2 2, Norwell 4-5 3-3 11, Marston 6-15 4-5 21. Totals: 21-56 16-20 68.
Halftime — IPFW 34-30. 3-pointers — IPFW 8-28 (Akanni 3-4, Wise 1-5, Griffin 3-11, Gibbs 0-2, Noll 0-3, Crow 1-3), NKU 10-32 (Sanders 1-7, Lawhon 1-5, Listerman 1-3, Conley 1-2, Stowers 1-3, Marston 5-12). Fouled out — none. Rebounds — IPFW 20 (Akanni 7), NKU 47 (Wieber, Conley, Norwell, Marston 7). Assists — IPFW 16 (Akanni 5), NKU 14 (Conley 7). Total fouls — IPFW 20, NKU 12. Attendance — 1,822.
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