By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
FAIRBORN, Ohio — If Wright State goes on to claim the Horizon League regular-season title, the Raiders’ two-game sweep of Northern Kentucky University will likely be the deciding factor.
Facing a win-or-else situation Friday night in the Nutter Center, Wright State built an 11-point lead in the second half and held on to defeat NKU, 69-67, to jump into a first-place tie atop the Horizon League standings with the visiting Norse. The Raiders shook off last week’s stunning home upset to Milwaukee and knocked off NKU for the second time this season.
NKU’s Carson Williams (left) find his path to the basket cut off by Wright State’s Loudon Love in the second half of Friday night’s game. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
Now tied for first place, Wright State owns the crucial head-to-head tiebreaker as a result of its two victories against NKU. On Jan. 11 in Highland Heights, the Raiders pulled out an 84-81 win against the Norse at BB&T Arena.
“They really defend well, they’re a top 30 defensive team in the country, so it’s difficult to score,” NKU head coach John Brannen said after Wright State limited his team to 41.4 percent shooting from the field. “We didn’t make a lot of [3-pointers], didn’t get to the foul line, but the biggest thing is we just didn’t get stops when we needed to get stops.
“I thought our guys showed great effort, great poise to come back from 11 points down with 6:30 to go to put ourselves in a position to win, so I was really proud of that part of it.”
After Wright State built a 63-52 lead on a Grant Benzinger layup, NKU roared back with a 10-1 run and sliced the deficit to 64-62 when Lavone Holland II converted a basket at the 3:53 mark. An inside bucket by Loudon Love pushed Wright State’s advantage to 66-62, but Jordan Garnett buried a 3-pointer to make it a 66-65 game with 1:19 on the clock.
Wright State’s Cole Gentry then missed a 3-point attempt, and NKU gained possession with a chance to take the lead. The Norse’s Drew McDonald tried to make a move off the dribble, but he was whistled for traveling with 40 seconds remaining.
“I just tried to get to the rim. I know if I get to the rim I can draw a foul or maybe get the basket,” McDonald said, “but he called a travel and I have to go with what the ref says.”
NKU’s Lavone Holland II scores two of his 15 points during the second half against Wright State. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
Holland made the first free throw to make it 68-66. The senior guard launched a high-arcing shot on the second attempt, hoping for a long miss and rebound by an NKU teammate. But the ball found the bottom of the net and the Norse still trailed by a point, 68-67.
“He tried to [miss it],” Brannen said when asked about Holland’s second free throw.
With less than a second remaining, Hall made the first of two free throws to push the Wright State lead to 69-67. He missed the second, and NKU could only rebound the ball as the buzzer sounded.
NKU entered Friday night with an opportunity to take total command of the Horizon League. A victory would have given the Norse a two-game lead over Wright State with just three contests remaining.
Now, NKU has to win out and hope Wright State slips up in one of its final three games in order to claim the regular-season title and earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Horizon League Tournament.
“The bottom line is they beat us, just like they did the first time,” Brannen said. “I’ll never say anything differently.”
Prior to Friday’s game, NKU was unbeaten (6-0) on the road this season against Horizon league opponents.
Tyler Sharpe led NKU with 16 points, with 14 of those in the first half. Holland added 15 points — all in the second half — and dished out four assists for the Norse.
McDonald collected his 14th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. A crowd of 7,205 watched the showdown, with a large contingent of noisy NKU fans that made an impression on both McDonald and Brannen.
NKU’s Dantez Walton blocks Wright State’s Grant Benzinger in the first half. Walton finished with six points and five rebounds. (Photo by Jeff McCurry)
“To have a following like that come up this early in the Division I era is just unbelievable.”
Said Brannen of the NKU fans: “I’m very appreciative of them. They were louder than the Wright State crowd.”
Love scored 15 points to lead Wright State, which shot 49.1 percent from the field. Hall and Parker Ernsthausen both added 10 points for the Raiders. The 6-foot-11 Ernsthausen entered Friday’s contest averaging 4.8 points per game, but he scored eight in the second half.
“He hurt us,” Brannen said. “He’s averaging five points a game, so we have to go ahead and evaluate why he hurt us.”
NKU has little time to dwell on the loss, as Youngstown State visits BB&T Arena on Monday night. The tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
That game will also mark the final regular-season appearances at BB&T Arena for NKU’s three seniors, Holland, Garnett and Nick Ayers.
“I hope the fans come out Monday because those seniors have done things nobody else in college basketball has done with the success they’ve had in such a short period of time,” Brannen said. “We’re in first place. We’re 12-3 and tied for first. We’ve got to get ready for Monday. We don’t talk about standings, but obviously we had a tremendous opportunity tonight.”
NKU/WRIGHT STATE PHOTO GALLERY
Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com and follow him on Twitter at @dontribunesport
