Ethan Faulkner scored a career-high 24 points to keep NKU in the game.
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Story from The Cincinnati Enquirer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Unfortunately for Northern Kentucky University, there will be no rematch against defending national champion Bellarmine in the regional semifinals. Findlay made sure of that Saturday night by eliminating NKU in the first round of the NCAA Division II Tournament.
Four Findlay players scored in double figures as the 25th-ranked Oliers held on for a 50-49 victory over No. 11 NKU in Knights Hall. The fifth-seeded Oilers (24-6) led by as many as 14 points and survived a late Norse rally to win their eighth consecutive game.
Findlay, which won the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship last week, also blocked a third meeting this season between fourth-seeded NKU and Bellarmine. The Oilers will instead get the opportunity against the top-seeded Knights in a semifinal game Sunday night.
NKU finished 23-7 in its last season as a Division II member. The Norse begin the reclassification process to Division I next season as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
On Saturday night, NKU managed just three field goals in the first half and trailed 26-19 at the break. The Norse connected on just 15.8 percent of their shots during the opening 20 minutes. Findlay, in fact, scored the game's first 10 points and never trailed.
Unable to generate any offense, NKU turned to junior point guard
Ethan Faulkner to stay in the game. Faulkner scored a career-high 24 points – 18 of those in the second half - and nearly brought the Norse all the way back.
“They were staying tight on our shooters and the driving lanes were there, so I was just trying to attack the gaps and get into the lane and make something happen,” Faulkner said.
Faulkner's basket with 1:04 left in the game cut the Findlay lead to 50-49, and after an Oiler missed 3-pointer, NKU rebounded and called timeout with 14.7 seconds remaining. While driving down the right side of the lane off a high screen, Faulkner slipped and lost control of the ball.
“We wanted to have our shooters set in a certain spot and for Ethan to read the ball screen, and then we just happened to have a guy not in the right spot, and he jammed up the lane on us,” NKU coach
Dave Bezold said. “Those are the things that cost us this game, just a little error like that where we were in the wrong spot.”
Findlay's Aaron Robinson scooped up the loose ball and threw ahead to Jake Heagen, who was fouled with 4.5 seconds left. Heagen missed both free throws to give NKU a last chance.
The Norse hurried the ball up the court, but
Eshaunte Jones launched a 3-pointer after the buzzer sounded, and Findlay celebrated the first-round win.
Heagen led Findlay with 11 points, while teammates Kyle Caiola, Greg Kahlig and Rob Marsden all scored 10. The Oilers won despite shooting 41.9 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from the free-throw line. Findlay finished with a 24-4 scoring advantage in the paint.
NKU shot 33.3 percent from the field, including 4-for-17 from 3-point range. Faulkner was the only Norse player to score in double figures.
Findlay is now 5-4 all-time against NKU and has won two of the three meetings between the two programs in the NCAA Tournament. The Oilers eliminated the Norse from the 2003 NCAA Tournament in Houghton, Mich., and NKU knocked off Findlay in the 2007 regional semifinals in Findlay, Ohio.
NKU finished 17-14 all-time in NCAA Division II Tournament play.
