FORT MYERS, Fla. – Tayler Persons posted 20 points and eight rebounds to lead Northern Kentucky, which suffered a 74-64 setback at Florida Gulf Coast in Atlantic Sun men’s basketball action on Saturday night.
“Our guys competed tremendously tonight,” said head coach Dave Bezold. “FGCU is a really talented team and Alico Arena is a tough place to play. We’ll take this next week to rest and work on a few details, as we have a big weekend coming up with Lipscomb, Homecoming and the Hall of Fame inductions.”
Northern Kentucky (9-13, 3-4 A-Sun) staked an early 7-6 lead in the first half when Persons connected on a short jumper. The lead was short-lived as Florida Gulf Coast (16-7, 6-1 A-Sun) went on an 11-0 run.
The Norse kept the margin in the 8-12 point range for most of the half and looked to go into intermission down only 10 after Jalen Billups tipped in Person’s missed three with just six second on the clock. But, preseason player of the year Bernard Thompson took the ball just beyond half court and knocked down a triple as the horn sounded to push the Norse behind 44-31 at halftime.
Persons and Billups posted 10 points each in the half as NKU shot 52 percent (12-for-23). FGCU connected on 48 percent (15-of-31) of its attempts but made nine threes and 56 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Eight offensive boards also led to a 13-6 Eagles’ advantage in second chance points in the opening stanza. Billups helped NKU control the paint, where the Norse held a 16-12 margin.
The Norse fell behind by 15 early in the second half but scored eight-unanswered points to cut the deficit to 49-42 with just over 16 minutes on the clock.
An old-fashioned three-point play from FGCU’s Brett Comer with 11-minutes remaining pushed the Norse back down by 13. However, NKU refused to go away.
A 5-0 spurt was later followed by another 5-0 run that was capped off with an thundering alley-oop dunk by Billups. Suddenly, the FGCU lead was a mere five points, 62-57, with four-minutes to play.
NKU came through with a defensive stop and took the ball with a chance to further whittle its deficit, but a turnover on the offensive end proved costly. Comer went the distance for a lay-in to add to FGCU’s lead.
The Norse had their chances to make a run as neither team scored for the next 2:15. Comer came through with another layup and NKU faced a nine-point deficit, 66-57, with 1:42 left in the game.
Persons scored the final seven points for NKU, but eight FGCU free throws sealed Northern Kentucky’s day with a 74-64 set back.
After surrendering 44 points in the opening frame, Northern Kentucky’s defense stiffened and held Florida Gulf Coast to just 30 second-half points on 25 percent (6-of-24) shooting, including just 13 percent from three.
NKU connected on 40 percent (12-of-30) of its field-goal attempts in the half and matched with a 2-for-5 3-point shooting effort in the frame.
Persons went 6-for-16 from the floor and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe for his 20-point showing, marking the fourth time this season he has tallied at least 20 points.
Billups made 7-of-14 attempts en route to 14 points. The junior forward corralled three offensive and six defensive boards on the evening.
Tyler White marked the third Norse to reach double-digits, tallying 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
NKU dominated the paint, outscoring FGCU, 32-22. The difference in the game came down to the free-throw line, where the Eagles knocked down 22-of-30 (73 percent) of their attempts and the Norse made just 13-of-20 (65 percent).
A seven-day lay-off awaits the Norse, who will join the women’s team for a doubleheader against Lipscomb Saturday, Feb. 7, at The Bank of Kentucky Center. It is Homecoming Weekend at NKU and a new King and Queen will be selected at halftime of the men’s game. Northern Kentucky is also holding its bi-annual Hall of Fame induction over the weekend, when Norse greats Bryan Jackson (baseball ’89), Eva Broeg (women’s soccer ’02), Mike “Walt” Kelsey (men’s basketball ’05), Mark Welage (golf ’96), Jessica Buroker (volleyball ’01), Rick Meyers (SID ’77-86) and the 2008 women’s basketball national championship team will head into the David Lee Holt Hall of Fame.
From NKU