Northern Kentucky University Athletics

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Finding a way to contain Kentucky Wesleyan's Anthony Young is never easy. Northern Kentucky University, however, did just that Friday afternoon and eliminated the Panthers from the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament.

NKU held Young – the leading scorer in the GLVC at 19.9 points per game - to eight points, and the 10th-ranked Norse shot 66.7 percent from the field in the second half to post a 58-51 victory over No. 14 Kentucky Wesleyan. Eshaunte Jones scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead NKU, which improved to 22-5 and advanced to Saturday's semifinal game against Missouri-St. Louis (19-8) at 7 p.m.

In the two regular-season meetings, Young averaged 28.5 points per game against NKU. A year ago, the 6-foot-7 scoring machine poured in an average of 24.5 points in four meetings against the Norse.

On Friday, NKU's defense limited Young to just 3-for-13 shooting from the field and defeated Kentucky Wesleyan for the first time in GLVC Tournament play. The Panthers had won all four previous meetings in the GLVC Tournament, including a 91-89 overtime victory in last season's quarterfinals.

“Young is a great player, and one of the best scorers in the nation, so to hold him to eight points was a key to winning this game,” NKU head coach Dave Bezold said. “Our defense was very solid, and we had a number of people who contributed in this win.”

Ethan Faulkner finished with 12 points and dished out five assists for NKU, which opened the second half with a 19-9 run to build a 41-30 lead on Jon Van Hoose's basket with 13:16 remaining. Jones buried a pair of 3-pointers during the Norse spurt.

Kentucky Wesleyan responded with a 12-2 run to cut the NKU lead to 43-42 with 10:36 left on the clock. The Panthers still trailed by just a point (47-46) with less than seven minutes remaining, but Faulkner hit a jumper to extend the NKU lead to 49-46.

DeAndre Nealy then took over, scoring NKU's next six points and blocking three shots in the last four minutes as the Norse pulled away. Nealy finished with eight points and four blocks, giving him 79 rejections this season.

Van Hoose scored nine points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds for NKU, which held Kentucky Wesleyan (21-7) to 31.8 percent shooting from the field. The Norse are now 57-130 all-time against nationally ranked opponents, including a 4-4 record this season.

Brandon Johnson led the Panthers with 16 points. Kentucky Wesleyan entered Friday's game No. 5 in the Midwest Region poll, while NKU is No. 3. The two teams could also meet again next week in the NCAA Tournament.