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Huge second-half rally lifts NKU women past East Tennessee State, 57-45; EKU men fall to Marshall


By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter

A huge second-half rally lifted the Northern Kentucky University women’s basketball team to a road win against East Tennessee State on Friday afternoon.

Samari Mowbray scored 15 of her 19 points in the second half as NKU rallied from a 15-point deficit to post a 57-45 victory over East Tennessee State in Johnson City, Tenn. ETSU owned a 32-17 lead with 7:50 left in the third quarter when NKU began its comeback.

NKU’s Samari Mowbray

The Norse used a 17-3 run to get within 35-34 on a pair of free throws by Jazmyne Geist with 3:06 remaining in the third quarter. ETSU withstood the NKU rally and still held a three-point advantage entering the final quarter.

Trailing 41-38, NKU scored 15 consecutive points to begin the fourth quarter and gain a 53-41 advantage. Mowbray keyed the Norse spurt with five points, including a trey at the 5:14 mark to extend NKU’s lead to 47-41.

Taryn Taugher and Molly Glick followed with consecutive 3-pointers to push the NKU advantage to 53-41, and ETSU was held to just four points the entire fourth quarter.

Glick finished with 11 points and eight rebounds for NKU, which improved to 2-9 and snapped a five-game losing streak. Geist added a career-high 10 points, while teammate Kailey Coffey hauled in a game-leading 10 rebounds.

NKU held ETSU (6-8) to 26.4 percent shooting from the field and won the rebounding battle by a 43-30 margin. The Norse made 36.2 percent of their shots from the field. NKU also remained perfect (6-0) in the all-time series against ETSU.

The Norse begin Horizon League play Dec. 28 with a 5 p.m. home game against Milwaukee at BB&T Arena.

EKU MEN LOSE AT MARSHALL: Jon Elmore and C.J. Burks combined for 51 points Friday night to lead Marshall to a 91-71 win over visiting Eastern Kentucky at Huntington, W.Va.

Elmore finished with 26 points and made four 3-pointers as Marshall improved to 9-4. Burks added 25 points and dished out seven assists for the Thundering Herd, who shot 61.8 percent from the field and made 11 3-pointers.

Marshall’s Ajdin Penava scored 13 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked nine shots, just missing a triple-double. He also collected seven assists and two steals.

Nick Mayo led EKU (6-7) with 19 points. Jackson Davis scored 17 points for the Colonels, who shot 39.2 percent from the field.

MURRAY STATE DEFEATS DETROIT MERCY: Jonathan Stark scored 21 points as Murray State defeated Detroit Mercy, 81-72, Friday night in Detroit.

Temetrius Morant added 17 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists for Murray State, which improved to 8-3. The Racers converted 82.6 percent of their free throws and shot 45 percent from the field.

Kameron Chatman and Jermaine Jackson Jr. scored 16 points apiece to lead Detroit Mercy (4-9). Josh McFolley added 13 points off the bench for the Titans, who begin Horizon League play Dec. 28 at Green Bay.

WKU WINS AT AUSTIN PEAY: Darius Thompson scored 21 points and teammate Taveion Hollingsworth netted 20 points as Western Kentucky rallied in the second half to knock off Austin Peay, 72-55, Friday night at Clarksville, Tenn.

Austin Peay held a 32-30 lead at halftime, but WKU shot 60.7 percent from the field during the final 20 minutes to run way from the Governors. Hollingsworth poured in 16 of his points after the break to ignite WKU’s rally.

Lamonte Bearden finished with 14 points and six assists for WKU, which is 8-5. Ed Stephens scored 13 points for Austin Peay, which dropped to 5-7.

Contact Don Owen at don@nkytrib.com


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