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HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game Thursday night, Northern Kentucky held a 46-41 lead over Florida Gulf Coast after a 3-pointer by
Eshaunte Jones.
That's when Florida Gulf Coast's Bernard Thompson and Chase Fieler literally took over, combining to score their team's final 19 points as the Eagles rallied for a 60-53 victory in The Bank of Kentucky Center. Florida Gulf Coast improved to 19-8 overall with its seventh consecutive win, and the Eagles are atop the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with an 11-3 record.
After Northern Kentucky gained a 46-41 edge on the trey by Jones with 10:04 left on the clock, Florida Gulf Coast went on an 11-1 run to take the lead for good at 52-47. Thompson netted eight points – a pair of 3-pointers and a fade-away jumper – to ignite the run, while Fieler scored three points.
Jones, who scored a game-high 20 points and dished out six assists, cut the Florida Gulf Coast lead to 52-49 with 4:45 left by making two free throws, but Fieler countered with a dunk to push the Eagle advantage back to five points. Thompson ended the game with a steal and breakaway dunk as time expired. He finished with 18 points, three assists and two steals. Fieler added 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and eight rebounds.
Northern Kentucky (8-13 overall, 6-7 A-Sun) missed its last six 3-point attempts and was unable to pull off the upset before a crowd of 3,386. Florida Gulf Coast beat No. 3-ranked Miami (Fla.) earlier this season and had handed the Norse their worst A-Sun loss of the season, 73-54 on Jan. 19.
Northern Kentucky, which lost its second straight game after having won four in a row, had upset Mercer back on Jan. 24. Mercer, which is in second place in the Atlantic Sun, has wins at Florida and Alabama.
“We had to play like we did against Mercer to beat them tonight and for probably 35 minutes we did that,” said senior point guard
Ethan Faulkner. “Then we had a lapse where we gave up offensive rebounds and it cost us the game. They shot 44 percent from the field, but I would say they shot under 40 (percent) on the first shot attempt. It seemed like every time we gave up an offensive rebound they made a big basket.”
Florida Gulf Coast won the battle on the glass by a 37-26 count, including 11 offensive rebounds. The Eagles finished with a 13-3 edge in second-chance points.
“There was just a stretch in the second half where we broke down defensively,” said Northern Kentucky head coach
Dave Bezold. “It wasn't them, it was us not adhering to fundamentals. That was the stretch that cost us the game.”
NKU did have a chance to tie the score when Jones got a good look at a 3-pointer with 1:36 left, but it went in-and-out.
It marked the fifth time in the last seven games Jones scored at least 20 points, and he played 40 minutes on Thursday night. Faulkner also played all 40 minutes, while junior guard
Chad Jackson played 35 before fouling out with 28 seconds left. Jackson finished with 13 points, his sixth straight game in double figures since going scoreless at Florida Gulf Coast, and a team-high seven rebounds.
“The fatigue factor got us,” said Bezold. “We didn't go deep in the second half. That was probably my fault, but we thought with a possession game it was best to go with a short bench and we were going to rely on the upperclassmen.”
The fatigue, combined with Florida Gulf Coast's length (it often had at least one 6-foot-9 player and one 6-8 player on the floor at all times) kept NKU from driving to the basket in the second half. The Norse scored just four of their 14 points in the paint in the final 13:33 of the game.
“Down the stretch we weren't cutting and we had guys starting to stand, and if you're not spaced you just allow them to use their length even more effectively,” said Bezold. “I was really proud of our kids for following the game plan and knowing what happened down there when we played them and how good this team was to come in and really put ourselves in position to win the basketball game … but these guys aren't interested in moral victories. Once they figured out we could win they're trying to win every game.”
The Norse held Florida Gulf Coast standout guard Sherwood Brown to just six points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field. In the first meeting last month, Brown poured in 29 points against the Norse in Fort Myers, Fla. He entered Thursday's contest averaging 16.0 points per game.
The Norse are now 56-10 all-time in The Bank of Kentucky Center, including a 3-3 mark this season. Thursday night also marked the first time a men's basketball team from the state of Florida had ever visited Northern Kentucky.
Northern Kentucky plays host to Stetson at 7 p.m. Saturday.
(Special thanks to Richard Skinner of The Enquirer for providing information in this recap)
