By Don Owen
NKyTribune reporter
INDIANAPOLIS — After his team dropped an 80-69 decision to Northern Kentucky on Monday night in the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament, Green Bay head coach Linc Darner shook his head while looking at the stat sheet.
Darner had just watched NKU rally from a six-point deficit early in the second half and cruise past his team. And he knew exactly why the second-seeded Norse (22-9) are heading to Tuesday night’s championship game against Illinois-Chicago.
“They attacked us,” Darner said. “I think their goal in the second half was to get to the rim, and they did a good job of that. We fouled way too much.
Jalen Tate did all of that and more. Tate poured in a game-high 23 points and converted 10 free throws in 15 attempts. The 6-foot-6 junior used an assortment of moves to attack the basket, and Green Bay was unable to find a defensive answer.
“We started getting Jalen in the post, and he made some terrific plays,” NKU head coach Darrin Horn said. “I thought that really sparked us. Not just the points he got, but they were physical, aggressive-type plays that in a game like this, really spark a team.”
Tate also grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists. Monday marked his fourth 20-point performance in the last seven games. Tate is averaging 20.6 points per game during that stretch.
Tyler Sharpe added 20 points for NKU, which will meet UIC at 7 p.m. for the Horizon League Tournament championship. Dantez Walton finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, but it was a pair of 3-pointers in the second half from the senior forward that Darner said decided his team’s fate.
“The big back-breaker was Walton hitting the two (3-pointers),” Darner said. “He hit two huge ones at our place earlier this year, and he hit two during their big run tonight. He did it to us last year at their place. It’s a credit to him.”
Walton scored 13 during the final 20 minutes and was a force on the boards, hauling in eight rebounds in the second half.
“Dantez, Tyler and Jalen have all been in this type of situation before, and they carried us,” Horn said. “I have the utmost confidence in our guys.”
NKU shot 43.3 percent from the field and was 22-for-28 at the charity stripe. The Norse also held Green Bay (17-16) to 37.3 percent shooting from the field.
“They’re long, they’re athletic, they get a lot of deflections and they really guard well,” Darner said. “It’s not an easy defense to go against. It’s something you can’t simulate in practice, and I thought their defense caused us some problems.
“Walton is really good. So is Tate. They’re an excellent team and you have to credit them.”
Walton, from Lima, Ohio, is now just two points shy from reaching 1,000 career points. Monday night marked Walton’s fifth double-double of the season, and he’s also on a four-game streak of scoring 15 points or more.
JayQuan McCloud led Green Bay with 16 points. Amari Davis added 14 points for the Phoenix.
NKU will now face a UIC team that crushed top-seeded Wright State by a 73-56 score in the other semifinal on Monday night. The Flames (18-16) handed NKU a 73-43 loss in the last meeting at BB&T Arena by shooting 50 percent from the field and draining 11 shots from 3-point range.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY 80, GREEN BAY 69
GREEN BAY (69)
Davis 6-12 2-2 14, McCloud 4-17 7-9 16, Hankerson 3-9 0-0 7, Pipes 1-6 0-0 3, Schwartz 4-8 3-4 12, Patterson 2-4 2-2 6, McNair 0-0 0-0 0, Bell 5-9 0-0 11, Crist 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-67 14-17 69.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY (80)
Sharpe 8-16 2-2 20, Adheke 1-1 0-0 2, Faulkner 2-6 2-2 6, Langdon 2-7 0-0 5, Tate 6-10 10-15 23, Walton 6-18 5-5 19, Nelson 1-1 2-2 4, Djoko 0-1 1-2 1, Eleeda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-60 22-28 80.
HALFTIME: UWGB 30-29. 3-POINTERS: (NKU 6-22, UWGB 5-20). REBOUNDS: NKU 41 (Walton 11), UWGB 38 (Bell 8).
RECORDS: NKU 22-9, Green Bay 17-16.
