Sunday, February 06, 2000
NKU 78, Lewis 67
BY CAREY HOFFMAN
Enquirer contributor
NKU's reputation may be built on great shooting, but Saturday the Norse showed they could win a critical game with defense.
NKU, ranked No.8 in Division II, held No.25 Lewis to just six made field goals over a period of 25 minutes in the middle of the game, setting the stage for a 78-67 Great Lakes Valley Conference victory before a crowd of 841 at Regents Hall.
The victory ensures that NKU will have a home-court winning streak longer than a calendar year and keeps the Norse no worse than a game back of Great Lakes Valley Conference leader Kentucky Wesleyan.
Lewis actually fared quite well in the first eight and final eight minutes of the game, outscoring NKU by 16 over those spans. But the time in between was a far different story.
“I was wondering in the first five or six possessions if we were going to guard anybody,” NKU head coach Ken Shields said. “But after that for a really long period, we really stuck them well.”
“What happened was we started to execute our defense,” said point guard Kevin Listerman, who was a first-half savior with nine points and five rebounds by halftime. “We controlled the game with defense.”
Lewis held a 21-13 lead with 10:55 to go in the first half before NKU found its game. Adam Norwell, who was one of five Norse in double figures, started a run with a conventional three-point play. Listerman added a 3-pointer, Zach Weiber threw in two short jumpers, Listerman made another foul shot and then Scott Marston hit the first of his three 3-point goals in the game to punctuate a 14-3 run that had NKU ahead 27-24 with five minutes left in the half.
“I thought we played pretty well in the first half,” said Lewis coach Jim Whitesell, whose team was trying to avoid a damaging three-game losing streak. “But we didn't match up with Marston a couple of times and he hurt us.”
Lewis had beaten visiting NKU 75-68 back on Dec. 2. A big difference between the two games was the effectiveness of Lewis' 6-7 senior star forward, Tarrie Monroe. In the first game, Monroe had 21 points and eight rebounds.
Saturday, Monroe played with an injured back. That, combined with strong post defense by NKU, held him to just four points, although he did manage 12 rebounds.
“He played well against us at Lewis,” Listerman said. “Dave Bezold, the assistant who runs our defense, really emphasized about Billy (Brewster) and Adam (Norwell) denying him the ball.”
“Brewster was the Player of the Game today for holding Monroe to what he did,” Marston added. “The coaches told him don't even worry about scoring, just play defense.”
“This was a very important win,” Shields said. “They beat us in Chicago and if they had beaten us today again, it would have had a real injurious effect on us when it comes time for NCAA seeding.”
NKU, which hasn't lost at home since Feb. 9, 1999, now plays two games on the road this week, at Missouri-St. Louis on Thursday and at Quincy on Saturday.
LEWIS (14-5, 8-5) — Monroe 1-8 1-2 4, Piercy 7-13 0-0 17, Warner 2-3 1-2 5, Batambuze 3-6 2-2 10, Wilson 6-10 1-2 14, Virostko 1-4 1-1 3, Carter 0-0 2-2 2, Vargas 1-5 2-2 4, Jones 4-8 0-0 8. Totals: 25-57 10-13 67.
NKU (19-3, 11-2) — Sanders 4-9 0-0 10, Brewster 1-3 0-0 2, Norwell 5-12 2-3 12, Lawhon 0-1 0-0 0, Listerman 3-4 2-4 10, Conley 4-5 2-2 10, Stowers 2-5 4-6 8, Marston 6-10 3-4 18, Wieber 3-7 2-2 8. Totals:28-56 15-21 78.
Halftime--NKU 34-28. 3-point goals--Lewis 7-19 (Monroe 1-2, Piercy 3-6, Batambuze 2-4, Wilson 1-2, Virostko 0-3, Vargas 0-2), NKU 7-19 (Sanders 2-6, Lawhon 0-1, Listerman 2-3, Conley 0-1, Stowers 0- 2, Marston 3-6). Fouled out--Warner, Vargas. Rebounds--Lewis 32 (Monroe 12), NKU 32 (Listerman 6). Assists--Lewis 9 (Warner 3), NKU 13 (Listerman 5). Total fouls--Lewis 20, NKU 17. A--841.
NKU's Listerman leads on, off court
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