By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
TMU WINS A PAIR ON THE ROAD
NAIA NO. 1 THOMAS MORE WOMEN 70, LINDSEY WILSON 56: They’re 17-0 now (11-0 in the Mid-South Conference) and the Saints just keep rolling on the road in Columbia, Ky., against Lindsey Wilson. After a typically fast 21-14 first period start, the Saints hit a bit of a pause for a 32-28 halftime edge. But with Zoie Barth doing what the senior guard often does, TMU established a double-digit lead in the third that saw them up by as much as 16 on the way to a 14-point win. Highlands’ grad Barth led the Saints, who hit on 26 of 52 field goal attempts for 50.0 percent, with team-high totals of 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Emily Simon added 14 points for TMU while Kelly Brenner, who hit three three-pointers, scored 11.
NEXT UP: TMU heads to Lebanon, Tenn., Thursday for a Mid-South game against Cumberland (6:30 ET).
NO. 2 THOMAS MORE MEN 78, LINDSEY WILSON 72: It took a second-half rally to get NAIA No. 2 TMU to 14-2 (9-2 in the Mid-South Conference) with their fifth straight win Saturday at Lindsey Wilson. Thomas More trailed by a point, 33-32, at halftime, and still trailed 43-42 with 15:42 left in the game before a sizzling 22-4 run over the next six minutes gave the Saints a 64-47 lead. Noah Pack’s six points with five each from Wyatt Vieth and Casey George fueled the run. For the game, Reid Jolly led the way with 25 points on 12 of 17 shooting. It’s his fourth game scoring 25 or more points. Vieth (15 points), Pack (14) and George (12) led the offensive charge that saw TMU shoot 58.8 percent (30 of 51) and an amazing 66.7 percent (18 of 27) the second half.
NEXT UP: It’s on to Tennessee Thursday for an 8:30 game at Cumberland, a team TMU beat at home Dec. 3.
NKU Athletics photos
NORTHERN SPLITS WEEKEND HOOPS
NKU MEN 78, DETROIT MERCY 76 (OT): The Norse got back on track – barely – Sunday afternoon at Truist Arena with a two-point Horizon League win over Detroit Mercy and the league’s best player, Antoine Davis. The win moves first-place NKU to 5-1 in the league and 10-7 overall and allows the Norse to avoid getting swept at home this weekend after Friday’s upset loss to Oakland.
Senior Trevon Faulkner’s three at the end of regulation got the Norse into overtime before backup A’Lahn Sumler hit a go-ahead three with two minutes left and then leading scorer Marques Warrick, who finished with 19 points, hit a jump shot for a 77-73 lead with 1:14 left. Faulkner would finish with 14 points, Sumler with 12.
Good thing the Norse had scorers since Davis fired in 29 points, above his second-in-the-nation 24.6 average, giving him 3,159 career points, sixth all-time in NCAA history. His five three-pointers leave him just five behind second all-time in the NCAA record book and 10 behind Fletcher McGee’s 509, the all-time NCAA record. Jayden Stone added 24 for the Titans who fall to 6-11.
NEXT UP: NKU heads off for a Horizon League game Thursday at Milwaukee.
BOX SCORE
Detroit Mercy 35 36 5—76
Northern Kentucky 36 35 7-78
DETROIT MERCY (6-11, 2-4 Horizon): Davis 8-5-8-29, Stone 9-6-0-24, Moss 1-0-0-2, Anderson 1-0-0-2, Parks 0-0-0-0, LeGreair 3-0-3-9, Oliver 2-1-3-8, Jones 1-0-0-2, TOTALS 25-12-14-76.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (10-7, 2-4 Horizon): Warrick 6-1-6-19, Robinson 3-1-1-8, Vinson 1-0-5-7, Zorgvol 2-0-0-4, Rhodes 1-0-0-2, Faulkner 4-2-4-14, Sumler 5-2-0-12, Brandon 3-0-1-7, Wells 2-0-1-5, TOTALS: 27-6-18-78.
GREEN BAY WOMEN 70, NKU 53: Green Bay won its fifth game in six Horizon starts to move to 12-3 overall with a convincing 17-point win Saturday in Highland Heights. The loss dropped the Norse to 3-3 in the league and 9-6 overall. Outscored 28-14 in the paint and giving up 18 points off turnovers to just three that NKU managed off the Phoenix sealed the Norse’s fate. NKU fell behind 36-27 at the half and then Green Bay buried the Norse in a 20-10 third period that saw NKU trailing 56-37 going into the final quarter. Ivy Turner, with her sixth straight double-digit scoring game led NKU with 10, same as freshman Trinity Thompson.
TMU WRESTLERS IMPROVE TO 6-2: With a 32-18 dual meet victory in the crosstown showdown against Mt. St. Joseph featuring five pins, the Saints improved to 6-2 for the season. With Shay Horton’s (Verona, Ryle) pin in 1:56 in the 125-pound class, TMU was off to a 6-0 jump. Joshua Dunn (Batavia, Goshen) followed at 141. Kailan Keith (Indianapolis, Ben Davis) pinned at 157 with Wilder Wichman (Johnson Creek, Wisc., Johnson Creek) getting a fall at 165. But the finish came with TMU up 26-18 when the Saints’ current NAIA Wrestler of the Week Daulton Mayer (Mentor, Walton-Verona) earned a pin in the 285-pound class in 1:04 for his team-leading 16th win and 11th pin of the season.
NEXT UP: TMU will be in action next at Campbellsville Saturday.
